A man died Friday after the SUV he was driving struck another SUV, left the road, flipped and caught fire while he was trapped underneath the wreckage.
Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly identified the victim as Lee Anthony Johnson, 43, of 24 Gipson Ave., Glendora.
Fly said the accident happened shortly before 4:50 p.m. Sept. 11 on Swan Lake Road south of Webb.
The sheriff said Johnson was the lone occupant of a northbound 2004 Buick Rainier traveling behind a 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer driven by Charles Mack Lewis, 61, of Tutwiler.
“According to the report, the Trailblazer was making a lefthand turn when the Buick came around to pass and hit the side of the Trailblazer,” noted Fly.
Lewis told authorities that he had slowed to 20 mph and was turning into a cornfield where he was working. Fly said the rate of speed of Johnson’s vehicle was unknown.
The sheriff said the Buick careened off the road and overturned, ejecting Johnson before coming to rest on top of him in a drainage ditch.
“The Buick caught fire and was totally involved with flames when the deputy arrived,” explained Fly, who said Webb Fire Department was dispatched to the scene.
Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene by Tallahatchie County Coroner Ginger Meriwether, said Fly, who added that Lewis was transported by private vehicle to the emergency room at Tallahatchie General Hospital for evaluation and was determined to be uninjured.
The sheriff said Lewis is not being charged.
