A two-vehicle collision Monday morning on Springhill Road involved the death of an Amite, La. man.

Lt. Joe Quave with the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department said the department received the call at 11:18 that morning. 

Emergency responders arrived to find a large semi truck carrying harvested pine trees had overturned, spilling trees all over the roadside, and a white Dodge Ram carrying paint had come to rest in a nearby field. Varying hues of paint were sprayed over the nearby area and on the damaged truck as a result of the accident.

Quave said witnesses reported the white Dodge Ram was  traveling west on Joe Ryer Road towards the intersection of Springhill Road when it failed to stop at the intersection, putting it into the path of a semi truck loaded with cut pine trees heading south on Springhill Road.

The two vehicles collided, sending the Dodge into a nearby field, and the semi truck off the road, Quave said. The semi truck overturned after leaving the roadway and sustained damage to the cab of the vehicle. Quave said the driver, identified as 69-year-old Willie Simmons of Amite, La., suffered fatal injuries during the accident, Quave said. Simmons was pronounced at the scene.

The driver of the Dodge, 35-year-old Jason Backstrom of Purvis, declined medical treatment, but blood was drawn to be sent to the crime lab for analysis, Quave said. 

The accident will remain under investigation pending results of the blood test, Quave said.