VERGENNES, Ill. (WJPF) – Police have released the name of the person killed Sunday in a head-on crash in Jackson County.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office says that Lyric Irby, an 18-year-old SIU student from Peoria, died at the scene of the accident on Route 127 near Vergennes. They say while trying to overtake two other cars, Irby slammed her sedan head-on into an SUV. The driver of the SUV, a 71-year-old Missouri man, was taken to an area hospital and is expected to survive.
Police report only one person involved in the four car wreck was from the southern Illinois area. Jerry Ward, 66, of Murphysboro, was in one of the vehicles Irby attempted to pass. He and his passengers were not hurt. The occupant of the other vehicle Irby attempted to pass was from Rochester.