Woman dead, two others injured when small car collides with 18-wheeler, Alabama troopers say

Published 9:17 am Friday, August 4, 2023

Alabama state troopers report that a woman was killed and two others injured Thursday when her small car collided with a tractor-trailer.

The two-vehicle crash occurred at approximately 5:30 a.m. Thursday, and claimed the life of a Monticello, Florida, woman.

Sandra A. Herrera, 43, was critically injured when the 2013 Ford Fiesta that she was driving struck the 2014 Mack tractor-trailer driven by Blake E. Shelton, 24, of Ripley, Mississippi.

Herrera was airlifted to Hellen Keller Hospital in Sheffield and subsequently transported to Huntsville Hospital in Huntsville where she succumbed to injuries and was pronounced deceased.

Shelton was injured and transported to Hellen Keller Hospital for treatment. David R. Owen, 43, of Selmer, Tennessee, a passenger in the Ford, was also injured and airlifted to Northeast Medical Center in Tupelo, Mississippi.

The crash occurred on U.S. 72 near the 1 mile marker, approximately seven miles west of Cherokee, in Colbert County. Nothing further is available as Troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s (ALEA) Highway Patrol Division continue to investigate.