Crash kills two

Standard Democrat

BERNIE, Mo. -- Two Bernie teenagers were killed over the weekend after the vehicle they were traveling in struck a tree.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, at 9:40 p.m. Saturday, an accident occurred on Bowman Street in Bernie as motorist Darius C. Wooldridge, 16, lost control of his 2001 Jeep and ran off the roadway, striking a tree.

Wooldridge and his passengers, Colton Z. Dill, 16, of Bernie and Shannon D. Tarkington, 17, of Bernie were ejected from the vehicle.

Wooldridge was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later by coroner Rick Cook. Tarkington was air evacuated to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, where he died Sunday.

The other three victims suffered serious injuries.