Two people are dead after one driver drove head-on into oncoming traffic on Beersheba Hwy Saturday morning. 

First responders were dispatched to Beersheba Hwy near Privet Road Saturday morning at approximately 4:57 a.m. for a two-vehicle wreck. McMinnville resident Christopher Michael McCormick, 44, and Christian Jondale Cook, 18, from Readyville lost their lives in the crash. 

According to State Trooper Josh Sparkman, three passengers, Jason Egerton, 18, a 16-year-old and a 15-year-old, were in Cook’s 2007 silver BMW at the time of the accident. McCormick had two other passengers in his white 2003 Ford Taurus, 33-year-old Dustin Smith and 71-year-old Carl Bumbalough. 

According to Sparkman, Deputy Luke Nisbett was parked stationary on Beersheba Hwy working on a crash report when he noticed Cook was driving at a high rate of speed. Cook was traveling south on Beersheba Hwy. Deputy Nisbett reportedly flashed his blue lights in an attempt to slow Cook down. Cook continued traveling over the hill crest and Nisbett lost sight of the vehicle. 

A short distance down the road, Cook reportedly attempted to pass a witness, Mark Engle, in a no-passing zone. According to Sparkman, while Cook was attempting to pass the witness, McCormick was traveling north on Beersheba Hwy in the opposite lane. Cook struck McCormick’s vehicle head-on. 

McCormick’s vehicle traveled off the highway and came to rest in a corn field on the right side of the road. Cook’s vehicle flipped multiple times and came to rest on its top in the southbound lane. 

Cook and McCormick were both pronounced dead on the scene. Sparkman says McCormick was not wearing a seatbelt. All passengers in both vehicles were transported to Ascension Saint Thomas River Park to be treated for their injuries. 

Sparkman says a passenger in Cook’s vehicle reported they all had been drinking earlier that night around 8 or 9 p.m.