Vicksburg Fire Department Capt. Tal Sheffield looks inside the vehicle involved in a one-car accident on Interstate 20 west of the Halls Ferry Road exit. Both teens were thrown from the SUV as it spun. (Melanie Duncan Thortis The Vicksburg Post)

[2/23/04]A Vicksburg teen died and one was injured Sunday in a one-vehicle wreck on Interstate 20 just west of the Halls Ferry Road exit.

Niles Langford McKay, 18, 120 Summer Drive, died from injuries consistent with a closed-head injury, Warren County Coroner John Thomason said.

McKay and passenger David LaSalle, 17, 103 Bering St., were both thrown from the blue Ford Explorer McKay was driving.

LaSalle was in good condition at River Region Medical Center, a hospital spokesman said today.

The wreck happened about 5:12 p.m. just west of the Halls Ferry Road Exit.

“According to witnesses, a small goldish color car pulled from the shoulder of the interstate into the path of the car driven by McKay,” said Fran Jeffers, a spokesman for the Vicksburg Police Department. “When McKay attempted to swerve to miss the car, he lost control and rolled off the interstate.”

Jeffers said the report did not indicate that the other car stopped at the scene.

Police were investigating the wreck.

In two wrecks involving three vehicles on the interstate this morning, one person was injured and being treated at River Region.

Phillip Shaw, 65, Pearl, was westbound on I-20 east of Bovina at 8:55 when his red Volvo was rear-ended by an unidentified car. Shaw was taken to River Region. The driver of the second car was not identified.

The wreck occurred as traffic was slowed while workers attempted to shift a load from an 18-wheeler, which had overturned at the spot at about 1:30 this morning.

In that wreck, the driver, John E. Garvoden, 58, Lindale, Texas, was believed to have fallen asleep before his truck left the highway and overturned. He was not injured.

Westbound traffic on I-20 remained backed up at 10 this morning.

Sunday’s fatal wreck was the third in a week in Vicksburg and Warren County. Two men were killed and two were injured Monday in a wreck on Interstate 20 near the Flowers interchange. And a 14-year-old girl was killed near U.S. 61 and Mississippi 465 Tuesday.

It was also the second fatal wreck near the same location on I-20 in less than a year. Both occupants of a sedan died when a pickup cross the median there in rainy conditions and struck the sedan, entering I-20 East from U.S. 61 North.

McKay’s parents are Jerry McKay and Elaine K. McKay.

Funeral arrangements for McKay were incomplete with Riles Funeral Home in charge.