Fatal Crash Near Rusk

Thursday around 11:00 am there was a two-vehicle fatal crash on US-69, 2.9 miles north of Rusk in Cherokee County. Reportedly the driver of a 2006 GMC Canyon, Nona Kay Bickerstaff, 79, of Bullard, was traveling south on US 69, turned east onto the crossover and attempted to cross and into the northbound lanes. The driver failed to yield the right of way as she entered US 69 and she was struck in the right passenger door by a northbound 2007 Kenworth T60 driven by Clemente Martinez-Mendez, 33, of Jacksonville.

Judge Brenda Dominy pronounced Bickerstaff dead at the scene. Officials transported to the Wallace Thompson Funeral Home in Rusk and Martinez-Mendez to UT Health-Jacksonville in stable condition.