Kings Point logger dies on island in accident

Published 12:30 am Sunday, January 16, 2011

A Franklin County logger working at Kings Point Island was killed Saturday, his birthday, when a tree fell on him as he was headed to a lunch break.

McKinley Martin, 39, 5675 White Apple Road, Hamburg, had been cutting trees for M&M Farms of Bude, Miss., on the island northwest of Vicksburg, had set his saw against another tree and was walking away when another tree, a gum 12 to 14 inches in diameter, fell from behind and hit him, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said.

The tree hit him in the head and knocked him to the ground, Pace said. Martin was wearing a hard hat, the sheriff said.

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“I don’t know why the tree fell,” Pace said. “Skidders and other equipment were on the scene, but there’s no reason to believe it’s anything but a terribly unfortunate accident.”

Deputies, an ambulance and a rescue unit, which received the emergency call at 12:06 p.m., met the Kings Point Ferry that provides the only access to the island used mostly for farming, including logging, and hunting. Emergency officials radioed back to the E911 dispatch center that they were on the island at 12:30 p.m.

Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey said Martin was pronounced dead of head injuries at River Region Medical Center at 1:39 p.m. His body was to be sent to Jackson for an autopsy, Huskey said.

Martin, who grew up in the area where he lived, leaves his wife, Antoundia Martin, four children, two stepchildren and a grandchild, said his mother-in-law, Jewel O’Quinn, also of the White Apple community.

“He loved his family and his friends,” she said. “If you were feeling down when he came in the room, before he left the room, he would make sure you were feeling good.”

Mike Priest of Meadville, an owner of M&M who was with the crew Saturday, said Martin had been a logger for about 18 years but had worked for his company for only about a month.

“He was as nice a person as you would want to be around,” Priest said.