One Fatality, Two Others Injured Sunday Night On I-44

An Illinois man lost his life and two others were injured after a head-on accident Sunday, August 18 on westbound Interstate 44 at the 226 mile marker.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident occurred at 10:40 p.m. when a westbound 2019 Hyundai Elantra, driven westbound by Kent B. Taylor, 19, Granite City, Ill., traveled off the left side of the roadway and across the median. The front of the Taylor vehicle then struck the front of an eastbound 2002 Dodge Caravan, driven by Charles T. Robertson, 47, Springfield, Ill.

Robertson, wearing a seatbelt, was fatally injured in the accident and pronounced deceased at the scene by St. Clair Ambulance personnel.

Kent, not wearing a seatbelt, received serious injuries and was flown by Air Evac Helicopter to Mercy Hospital, St. Louis, for treatment. 

A passenger in the Kent vehicle, Dakota L. Gamblin, 23, Galena, Mo., received moderate injuries and was transported by St. Clair Ambulance to Mercy Hospital, St. Louis, for treatment,

Gamblin was arrested for allegedly possessing a controlled substance — 14 pills of a synthetic narcotic. Gamblin was released in the care of Mercy Hospital.

Both vehicles were a total loss in what Sullivan Firefighters called a tremendous impact accident.