Weekend wrecks kill two

Published 3:00 am Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Two wrecks over the weekend left one Troy couple dead and a 16-year old boy with life-threatening injuries.

The fatal accident occurred at approximately 2 a.m. on Saturday when the vehicle Tony Javis Cummings, 28, was driving ran off the roadway and struck several trees before overturning, killing both Tony and his wife Tanyo Maresa Cummings, 29.

The accident occurred on County Road 7755 about three miles north of Troy. The couple was pronounced dead at the scene by Pike County Coroner Jerry Williams.

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Cook said seatbelts were not in use and speed is believed to be a factor.

Later that afternoon, at approximately 4 p.m., Denver Buck, 16, and a friend were attempting to turn left onto US-231 South from Trojan Way when a Ford F150 travelling in the northbound lane struck their vehicle on the driver’s side.

“The collission sent both vehicles into the median,” said Troy Police Chief Randall Barr.

The driver of the pickup truck was Caleb Marley, 20, and he was treated and released from Troy Regional Medical Center. The passenger in the Blazer, also a 16-year-old boy, was treated for injuries at TRMC, Barr said.

Buck had some bleeding in his brain and some fluid on his lungs and Orlando Buck, Denver’s father, said that doctors are concerned he may have a condition called diffuse axonal injury (DAI), which Orlando explained in his own words.

“Essentially, with a high speed, blunt force brain injury the white matter neuron strands going to the spinal cord can be stripped. On the extreme end he could lose major cognitive abilities, gross motor function, etc. On the light end he might just have headaches, dizziness, irritability, etc.”

As of 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Denver was off the ventilator. Doctors have not yet determined whether he has DAI.

Barr said no charges have been filed in the accident.