Aberdeen Residents Die in Weather-Related Crash

MARSHALL COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Two Aberdeen residents are dead after a grinding head-on crash on icy Highway 78 at mile marker 21 in Marshall County, MS, near Red Banks.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol says Joshua Cunningham, 25, of Aberdeen, was traveling west on 78 at approximately 7:38 a.m. when he lost control of his vehicle and slid on the ice. The Infinity was crossing the overpass at Red Banks Road exit. His vehicle crossed the median into the eastbound lanes and struck an Ford Explorer driven by Eddie Brunson, of Bartlett, Tenn., who was taken to the Med in Memphis with serious injuries.

Cunningham, 25, and his passenger, Krystal McDonald, 27, also of Aberdeen, were both killed.

“Icy bridge, ice on the roadway. They came across the bridge westbound and lost control,” said MHP Master Sergeant William Foster.

Snow flurries and icy conditions were moving through the area this morning.

Sheri McClatchy watched the accident scene from her driveway.

“It didn’t look good,” she told WMC in Memphis. “One car looked like it had been possibly at a scrap yard.”

Traffic was stopped on the highway for more than an hour. People in Marshall County say the bridges are always bad when it gets cold, but the wintry mix came sooner than anyone expected.

“We had several accidents out here this morning,” said Rodney Crane, Holly Springs Fire Department. “You’ll come across that bridge and the next thing you know, you’re in a spin.”

Thursday’s crash has drivers worrying about what more cold temperatures will bring, but right now, they are thinking about two families who are picking up the pieces.

“You just know that somebody’s family is going to be hurting right now,” McClatchy said.

Mississippi Highway Patrol is investigating this crash.