JACKSON WOMAN DIES IN INTERSTATE MISHAP

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A 39-year-old Jackson woman was killed Wednesday morning in a rear-end collision on Interstate 55 after she pulled her car onto a shoulder of the interstate, police said.

The accident occurred one mile north of the I-55 and Route K intersection. The site is on a stretch of interstate that runs through the city, making it the city's first traffic fatality of the year.

Killed was Sherry L. Philip. Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Carpenter pronounced Philip dead at the scene, police said.

The driver of the car that rear-ended Philip, a Clifton, Tenn., man, was taken to St. Francis Medical Center with moderate injuries, according to police. A spokesperson there said late Wednesday afternoon that the man, Patrick W. Ainsley, 35, was admitted and in stable condition.

Police identified Philip as the wife of Harry Philip, the general manager of Lone Star Industries here. Her funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at McCombs Funeral Home at Jackson.

The accident was reported to police at 7:25 a.m.

Philip was southbound when she pulled the car she was driving, a 1986 Mercury Cougar, off of the interstate and onto the right shoulder for an unknown reason, said Carl Kinnison, a sergeant with the Cape Girardeau Police Department. As the vehicle sat on the shoulder, Kinnison said, it was struck by a 1987 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser station wagon driven by Ainsley.

As a result of the accident, Philip's vehicle went into a ditch and overturned, coming to rest on a slight incline, he said. Rescuers had to extricate the woman.

Kinnison said Ainsley's vehicle had left the interstate's southbound driving lane.

"He, for whatever reason, veered over onto the shoulder. There were no skid marks; he hit her without slowing down," said the sergeant.

Police said they had no reason to believe Ainsley had been speeding. The speed limit along the interstate stretch, as with the rest of the interstate in this area, is 65 mph.

Ainsley was issued a traffic summons for striking a lawfully stopped vehicle, said Kinnison.

Carpenter, the county's coroner, said Philip was inside the vehicle when the collision took place and died from head injuries. "From what we could tell, she didn't have her seat belt on."

He attributed the cause of the accident to inattention on Ainsley's part. Ainsley had said he hadn't fallen asleep, Carpenter said. But the coroner speculated that Ainsley may have dozed off.

Ainsley "really couldn't come up with" a reason as to how the accident had occurred, said Carpenter.

"All he knew was that all of a sudden there was this car in front of him, but nobody can figure out (how) he left the regular roadway and got on the shoulder. It looks like it's one of those unfortunate accidents that happen," he said.

Kinnison said police didn't know whether or not emergency blinkers on Philip's car were flashing at the time of the fatal accident. One report indicated that the blinkers were flashing, but, Kinnison said, the report is unconfirmed.

It is possible, Kinnison said, that Philip had pulled the car onto the shoulder because of car trouble.

Last year, three people died in two fatal accidents in the city, police said.