WOMAN KILLED IN CRASH WITH TROOPER

JACKSON -- A Burfordville woman was killed in the crash of pickup truck and Missouri Highway Patrol squad car that was en route to a traffic accident in Bollinger County.

Beatrice Medley, 47, died early Sunday in the crash on Highway 34, about four miles west of Jackson, the patrol said.

Medley was a passenger in a pickup truck driven by her son Richard Medley, 18, who was seriously injured.

Patrol Sgt. Brent Davis of Troop E in Poplar Bluff said Trooper Matthew Keeney, 23, of Marble Hill was responding to the accident at about 9:59 a.m. with his emergency lights flashing and siren activated.

Davis said as Keeney approached a bridge, two oncoming cars slowed to pull over to the shoulder, but Medley, who was behind them, could not stop, swerved the truck and crossed the center line.

Keeney's car hit the Medley truck on the passenger-side door at about 50 mph, and Beatrice Medley was thrown from the truck, said the patrol.

Davis said that Keeney's car was damaged beyond repair. He said the car's air bag deployed, the trooper was wearing his safety belt, and that a bullet-proof vest may also have provided protection from the impact. He said Keeney was out of the car and walking around by the time other officers arrived, and he was released after treatment at St. Francis Medical Center.

Keeney, who has been with the patrol for about a year, will be placed on administrative leave for a few days, Davis said.

"He's going to be a little sore, and he's going to need time to recover," he said.

Davis said the occupants of the pickup were not wearing seat belts.

Davis said he can't remember the last time an officer from Troop E was involved in such a serious accident.

"We have fender-benders all the time," he said. "But in my little corner of the world down here, this sort of thing is very few and far between."

The Associated Press contributed information for this story.