An El Dorado man was killed this week in a car wreck in rural Calhoun County, according to the Arkansas State Police.
Murphy J. Aaron, Jr., 34, of El Dorado died on Tuesday, June 8, at around 7:30 a.m. after a head-on collision on Highway 274.
According to a crash report from the ASP, Aaron was travelling west in a 2014 Chevy Tuesday morning when his vehicle crossed the center line. Kristopher J. Emery, 43, of Oakland, Arkansas was travelling east in the opposite lane in a 2020 Kensworth semi-truck.
Aaron’s vehicle struck Emery’s head-on and subsequently “rotated counter clockwise” before coming to rest on the north side of the highway, according to the report.
Emery’s truck also left the roadway, coming to rest on the south side of the highway. He was transported to the Medical Center of South Arkansas for treatment of injuries.
Road conditions were foggy and wet at the time of the accident.
This was the 232nd fatal car wreck to occur in Arkansas so far this year. Aaron was the 259th person killed in a car wreck on a highway in the state in 2021.
Several other local residents have lost their lives on the road this year.
Late last month, on May 30, Stephanie Deeanna Moon, who was an English teacher at El Dorado High School, was killed in a single vehicle wreck.
Local cardiologist Dr. Aldo Fonticiella, 63, was killed in an accident on Highway 82 on February 7.
On March 27, Joanna McJunkin, 35, of McRae was killed in an accident and El Dorado’s Shawn Strickland, 25, later died as a result of injuries he sustained in the wreck as well.
Eduardo Arias Santana, 34, of El Dorado was killed on April 3 in an accident on Highway 70 in Saline County.
Additionally, on January 8, William J. Bradley, 21, of Hampton and Eric C. White, 44, of West Monroe, were killed in an accident on the Calion River Bridge, according to previous News-Times reporting.