Two Livingston teens were killed and three injured in a crash after making a run up “Thrill Hill” on Burgess Street Wednesday, April 6.

According to reports from Tennessee Highway Patrol, Alexander D. Wright, 18, of Timberland Drive, Livingston, was driving east on Burgess Street at approximately 6:28 p.m. in a black 2011 Chevrolet Colorado crew cab pickup truck when he “lost control after traveling over a hill crest.” The report said the truck then failed to make the right turn at the intersection of Burgess and Bussell Streets, striking a bollard and then a tree.

The crash killed Wright, and a passenger, Jessica D. Sells, 17, of Daniels Lane, Livingston, would later die at Vanderbilt hospital after succumbing to injuries sustained in the crash. Two other teenagers, Maggie Taylor, 15, of Chimney Springs Road, Cookeville, and Madison L. Loftis, 17, of Sulphur Road, Livingston, were reportedly transported via helicopter to Vanderbilt for treatment of their injuries. A fifth occupant of the truck, Andrew J. Berta, 17, of County House Road, Livingston, was reportedly treated for minor injuries at Livingston Regional Hospital and released.

According to Trooper Andrew Goolsby, who investigated the crash, “They initially struck the stop sign coming up the hill with the passenger side mirror, then they hit a concrete pole. When they hit the tree, the truck kind of stood up on its nose. It did kind of come up on its nose and rotate 180 degrees, and of course it was facing the road.”

Goolsby said THP investigators were not able to ascertain what speed the truck was traveling because there were no discernible marks on the roadway. He noted, however, that investigators thought the truck was traveling “well above the posted speed limit.”

The brunt of the damage appeared to be on the driver’s side of the truck, where both Wright and Sells were seated, according to Goolsby. He said Loftis was in the rear seat on the passenger side and Taylor was in the rear seat middle position, while Berta was in the front passenger seat.

The bollard and tree hit by the truck were located in the front yard of Livingston Police Chief Greg Etheridge, who said he was not home at the time. When the initial 911 call came in Etheridge said he went to the scene and radioed the 911 dispatch to “Send everything you’ve got.”

Etheridge said, “The call came in, and I was still here at the police department. Sgt. Swift and I left the police department at the same time. I had him go up Burgess Street and I went Zachary and up Bussell. I looked to the top of the hill, and at first, I thought it was a truck at the top of the hill with its flashers on, but that was someone who had stopped to help with the wreck. When I pulled up, I realized it was in the yard.”

Etheridge, who said he had worked a lot of wrecks in his time with LPD and Overton County Sheriff’s Department, said at that point, his focus was on summoning help as quickly as possible.

Other than the fact that I noticed that it was in my yard, that had nothing to do with anything else that we were doing. I ran up to the vehicle and there were some civilians there trying to see what they could do to help, and I realized that there were several occupants. The vehicle was in pretty bad condition. I radioed in that we had three severe patients, and really, there were four, and I did not see one to start with because I was on the driver’s side,” he said.

Etheridge and Livingston Fire Department and Overton County Ambulance Service were on the scene in less than three minutes to begin the process of extricating the crash victims and treating their injuries. He said two of the victims were loaded into the ambulance and ready to be taken to the hospital within 12 minutes, which he said was quicker than many wrecks he’d worked, especially those in the outlying areas of the county.

“Everybody just worked in unison, and it shows how we’ve all cooperated certainly in the last two years,” he said. “You’d look down when they were working on the patients, and there were police officers, firemen, and EMS personnel all trying to help people at the same time.”

In a twist of irony, Etheridge and other emergency services personnel along with a troupe of student actors had set up and videotaped a mock crash scene earlier the same afternoon on Haney Judd Road as part of an annual program put on by police and Livingston Academy officials that is meant to encourage students not to drink or use drugs and drive on prom night. Etheridge said unlike the fake crash scenario, there was no evidence that Wright or others in the crash on Burgess Street were drinking or using drugs.

“The whole idea behind the prom crash video is to say drugs and alcohol can kill you, but that’s not what happened in this case,” Etheridge said. “This was speed. And I don’t know the speed, but I do know speed was a factor. But to lose two of their classmates is horrible, and I have no doubt that will be fresh on their minds come prom.

“They were all good students,” he added. “The principal gave them high praises. They were going to church. I keep saying that. They were going to church. They weren’t you know, most people who grew up around here went up Thrill Hill or went down Thrill Hill, including me, over the years. And it’s just an accident. It’s a tragic accident. I wish it hadn’t ever happened.”

Both Etheridge and Goolsby said they were aware of some “brief discussions” that had taken place about the possibility of installing speed bumps, making Burgess and Bussell one-way streets to keep people from driving up “Thrill Hill,” or even closing part of the street.

“We’ve had some limited discussions,” Etheridge said. “Now is not necessarily the time to overreact or under react. I think we need to look at it, talk about it, and you know, make some decisions down the road to try to maybe change it. But again, you go back to three generations in my lifetime who have traveled the road, so it’s hard to say. That’s why I keep going back and saying it’s just a horrible, horrible accident.”