Two children die, 4 others injured Sunday in Bluegrass Parkway crash

NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Sunday, March 25, 2018 — Two juveniles died Sunday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash in Hardin County on the Bluegrass Parkway that closed the parkway’s westbound lanes for more than four hours.

At about 3:05 p.m., the Elizabethtown Kentucky State Police Post received a report of a two-vehicle injury crash at about the 5 mile marker of Bluegrass Parkway in Hardin County.

According to KSP, George Michael Smith, 36, of Lebanon was traveling west in a 2004 Nissan minivan with four juvenile passengers (three girls, ages, 4, 2 and 1, and a 3-year-old male) and a female passenger, Crystal Lynn Shipp, 27, of Gravel Switch.

KSP investigators determined that the rear driver side tire on Smith’s vehicle blew out, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The vehicle entered the median and overturned, then slid into the Bluegrass Parkway’s eastbound lanes, in the path of a 2012 Buick Enclave occupied by Michael C. Reed, 51, Linda Reed, 56, and their teenage daughter, all of Elizabethtown. The Reed’s vehicle struck the rear of the overturned minivan.

Two of the juveniles in Smith’s vehicle — the 4-year-old female and 3-year-old male — were pronounced dead at the scene by the Hardin County Coroner.

George Smith was taken to Hardin Memorial Hospital by ambulance and is listed in stable condition. Crystal Lynn Shipp was flown to University Hospital and is listed in stable condition. The 2-year-old female was taken to HMH and is listed in stable condition. The 1-year-old female was airlifted to Norton Children’s Hospital and is listed in stable condition.

Michael Reed, Linda Reed, and their teenage passenger were uninjured.

KSP was assisted at the scene by Hardin County EMS, the Hardin County Coroner’s Office, and the Central Hardin Fire Dept. The accident is still under investigation by KSP Trooper/Reconstructionist Bryan Washer.

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