By Monica Land
PERKINSTON – Officials said a 19-year-old teenager from Stone County died in a single-car accident early Saturday morning and that speed and alcohol were factor.
Coroner Wayne Flurry said Grant Lowery Hickman, of Perkinston, died in a wreck about two miles from his home on Wire Road just east of Parker Road.
Officials said Hickman and a friend were returning home from a music festival in Gulfport when Hickman veered off the road and his truck flipped several times hitting a tree.
Hickman was not wearing a seatbelt.
The passenger in Hickman’s vehicle was taken to Stone County Hospital and later transferred to University Medical Center (UMC) in Jackson. That passenger, who was not identified, was listed in serious condition Saturday with severe internal injuries.
The newspaper reported that toxicology reports indicated Hickman’s blood-alcohol level was .224, nearly three times higher than the .08 limit, Flurry said.
Flurry told WLOX that he has known Hickman’s family his entire life and that was an accident he never wanted to respond to.
Flurry said, “This brings it home. People think they are invincible. It is not going to happen to me, until you get that phone call or until you pull up on that scene. Hopefully his death won’t be in vain, and they’ll learn something from it. Don’t mix these two [drinking and driving]. Those are a dangerous, deadly combination,” Flurry said.
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