A head-on collision with a tractor-trailer in Pike County left two Kirby women dead

arkadelphian.com

Two Kirby women lost their lives Wednesday afternoon in a head-on collision with a semi.

The accident happened on Arkansas Highway 27 near its intersection with Cowhide Cove in rural Pike County. According to an Arkansas State Police preliminary fatal crash summary, Ashley Penrod, 31, was traveling southbound in a 2020 Ford Explorer when the SUV met a northbound 2014 Freightliner. 

Penrod was traversing an uphill slope and a right curve when the Freightliner’s driver, traveling downhill in a left curve, “lost control and began to spin in a counterclockwise rotation,” the report states. The Freightliner crossed into the SUV’s lane as Penrod reportedly swerved to attempt the collision.

The front passenger side of the semi struck the front driver side of the SUV.

Penrod was listed as deceased, along with her passenger, 87-year-old Verna Moore, also of Kirby. The report does not list the name of the Freightliner’s driver.

The bodies were transported to Smith Family Funeral Home in Glenwood.

The collision happened at 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, under cloudy skies and on a wet roadway, according to investigating Trooper Tate Ledbetter.

Editor’s note: Preliminary Arkansas State Police fatality reports sometimes contain information that turns out to be inaccurate. Typical errors include spelling errors in names, or incorrect ages; outdated hometown information; vehicle direction of travel; and incident times. The ASP sometimes corrects these errors in updated reports. ASP reports omit names of passengers or drivers who are not injured, even in instances when uninjured drivers may appear to be at fault. The reports also omit names of juveniles who were injured or killed, although we report those names when obtained through other sources.