Pastor and Charleston funeral home owner, the Rev. Sammy L. Townes, 63, of Grenada, was killed in a one-vehicle accident Monday in Yalobusha County.
Townes was a passenger in a 2010 Cadillac hearse traveling north on Interstate 55 when it left the roadway and rolled over several times.
Mississippi Highway Patrol Public Affairs Officer Sgt. Marvin Baird said the accident occurred at about 4 p.m.
Yalobusha County Coroner Ronnie Stark told The North Mississippi Herald that Townes, who was ejected from the vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene. Stark told the newspaper that Townes was traveling to Memphis to pick up a body when the accident occurred.
The driver of the vehicle, 29-year-old Jacorrius C. Bennett of Grenada, was not injured, the MHP noted.
Townes was the owner of Townes Funeral Home locations in Charleston, Batesville and Grenada. He and his wife, Katherine Townes, opened their funeral home in Charleston in April 2018. Mrs. Townes died in September 2023.
Townes, a native of the Scobey community, was the longtime pastor of Spring Hill North Missionary Baptist Church in Water Valley, where he served for four decades, and Travelers Rest Missionary Baptist Church in Greenwood.
