Pair of motorists killed in separate accidents

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Two Poplar Bluff men were killed in separate accidents Sunday morning.

Tyler Phillip, 21, was fatally injured early Sunday morning when the vehicle he was driving ran off the roadway and overturned. Phillip was pronounced dead at the scene after being ejected from his vehicle. A passenger, Jesse Hicks, 24, of Poplar Bluff, was flown to Saint Francis Medical Center after receiving severe injuries from the accident. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident occurred at approximately 1:15 a.m. on County Road 303 in Butler County.

In another accident, Justin Freeman, 24, died early Sunday morning after he was ejected from the vehicle he was driving. Freeman received fatal injuries when the vehicle he was driving ran off the roadway and overturned. Two other passengers, Joshua Scowden, 19, and Francisco Heredia-Hicks, 20, both of Poplar Bluff, suffered minor injuries from the accident. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident occurred at 6:24 a.m. on Route P, three miles west of Arab, Mo., in Bollinger County.