Rainy conditions could have been a factor in a fatal accident that occurred Monday near Poplarville.

The accident took the life of 20-year-old Adam Sheffield of Poplarville, said Mississippi Highway Patrol Trooper Roy Jacobsen.

Just before 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sheffield was leaving work south bound on U.S. Highway 11 just north of Poplarville when, for an unknown reason, the 1998 Mercury Mystique he was driving left the road and spun around counter clockwise before striking a tree with the rear bumper.

Sheffield was thrown to the rear seat of the vehicle when the vehicle struck the tree and came to rest partially ejected out of the right driver’s side rear window, Jacobsen said. The trooper said Sheffield was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.

Sheffield was transported to the nearby Poplarville Hospital where he was pronounced dead, Jacobsen said. Drugs or alcohol are not suspected to be a cause in this accident, the trooper said