3 people killed in crash west of Nevada

Sep. 13—Three people were killed and a fourth seriously inured when their pickup truck collided with a semitruck at 12:12 a.m. Monday at Missouri Highway 43 and U.S. Highway 54, about 5 miles west of Nevada in Vernon County, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The driver of the pickup, Tylar A. Green, 19, of Nevada, was taken to Cox Medical Center South in Springfield, where he was pronounced dead at 4:40 a.m. Two passengers, Allison R. Bittiker, 24, of Nevada, and a 17-year-old girl from Bronaugh, were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash by the Vernon County coroner.

A fourth occupant of the truck, Derick T. Mahurin, 19, of Nevada, was taken to Freeman Hospital West in Joplin, where he was reported to be in serious condition.

The patrol said the truck was northbound on Highway 43 and failed to stop for a stop sign at Highway 54, crashing into the side of a westbound truck rig driven by Robert E. King, 48, of Nevada.

—An Arizona woman was injured in a single-vehicle wreck at 10 a.m. Monday on Interstate 44, about 9 miles east of Mount Vernon in Lawrence County, the state patrol said.

Lisa Newsome, 49, of Lakeside, Arizona, was taken by ambulance to Mercy Hospital Springfield with serious injuries.

She was a passenger in a westbound vehicle driven by Virnel M. Newsome, 79, of Lakeside, that ran off the road and overturned, the patrol said.

—A Cassville man was injured in a two-vehicle crash at 8:25 a.m. Monday on Missouri Highway 37 at the intersection with Farm Road 2035 in Barry County, the state patrol said.

Roney A. Pitts, 50, was taken to Mercy Hospital Cassville with minor injuries.

He was driving a northbound car that ran into the back of a semitruck rig operated by Mark R. Williams, 57, of Bolivar, the patrol said.