JACKSON TEEN KILLED, 2 INJURED IN ONE-CAR ACCIDENT IN COUNTY

JACKSON -- A 16-year-old Jackson High School student was killed, and two other teenagers injured, late Saturday, when the car they were in ran off a rural Cape Girardeau County road and overturned in a field near Pocahontas.

The Missouri Highway Patrol identified the victim and driver of the car as Jason Kyle Gentry, 16, of Route 4, Jackson.

Investigators said that at about 11:51 p.m., Kyle was traveling westbound at a high rate of speed on Route C, one mile west of Pocahontas, when his car ran off the highway, struck a fence and flipped over on its top.

Troopers said Gentry and two passengers in the car, Amos Evans, 14, of rural Jackson and Jerry Cook, 17 of Route 4, Jackson, were thrown from the vehicle as it overturned.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Carpenter said Gentry died of massive head injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene by the coroner. The body is at the CracraftMiller Funeral Home in Jackson.

Evans was listed in stable condition late Sunday afternoon at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Cook was taken to Southeast Hospital for treatment of minor injuries, the patrol said.