A former basketball and soccer player at Covenant Academy lost his life over the weekend when he was killed in a two-car crash Saturday night.

Samuel Dewayne Wright, 20, a Smithville resident, was killed in DeKalb County. He is DeKalb County’s first traffic fatality of 2020. He graduated from Covenant Academy in 2017.

According to trooper Caleb Bain of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Wright was traveling south on Highway 56 in a 2006 Mini Cooper. The other driver, Hunter Hoffman, 18, of Mt. Juliet, was northbound in a 2015 Dodge Charger.

Trooper Bain said it is unknown as this time which driver was at fault until the Highway Patrol’s critical incident response team examines the scene and conducts a further investigation. 

Hoffman was transported by ambulance to Cookeville Regional Medical Center for non-life threatening injuries.

The crash site on Highway 56, also known as Cookeville Highway, was near the DeKalb/ Putnam County line. The accident occurred around 8:15 p.m. Both drivers were wearing their seatbelts.