By By Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
May 10, 2001
Clarke County officials are investigating a second fatality due to a car accident in as many days.
Sheriff Todd Kemp said Kathy Mayo was killed after the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee she was driving left the roadway on Highway 511 and struck a tree.
The accident occurred at 3:20 p.m. Wednesday, about five miles east of Quitman and about three miles from Mayo's home, Kemp said.
Mayo, who was in her mid-70s, was pronounced dead at the scene, he said. An autopsy is scheduled at the Mississippi Mortuary in Jackson to determine the exact cause of death, he said.
Kemp said investigators are unsure what caused Mayo's car to leave the road. The accident is being reconstructed by Mississippi Highway Patrol accident investigation specialists, he said.
The accident marks the seventh for the year in Clarke County and the second since Monday when 21-year-old Lydia Whatley was killed after her car left Highway 45 South near the Highway 514 intersection and overturned several times.
Whatley was transported to Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center in Meridian, where she later died of head trauma.
Kemp said investigators are still unsure what caused that accident.
Marianne Todd is a staff writer for the Meridian Star. Call her at 693-1551, ext. 3236, or e-mail her at mtodd@themeridianstar.com.