An 18-wheeler struck the Jeep the 18-year-old football player and his 19-year-old girlfriend were driving, resulting in their deaths.
On Thursday night at around 10.30 p.m., Austin Moffitt and Alexis McCann of Dunlap, Tennessee, were travelling along State Route 28 when they entered an intersection and were hit by a 2019 Freightliner truck.
About 20 miles north of Chattanooga, Tennessee, the crash took place at the crossroads of Highway 28 and John Burch Road. According to a Tennessee Highway Patrol investigation, Moffit and McCann were both buckled up.
According to the highway patrol report, Moffitt and McCann were operating a 2016 Jeep Patriot when the 18-wheeler, which was headed south, impacted the driver-side of their vehicle.
The truck’s driver, who crashed into the teenagers, was unharmed. It is unknown if the troopers questioned him or if they intend to launch a criminal probe into the accident.
According to the report, Moffitt’s vehicle “apparently failed to stop at the crossing.”
Jeffrey Miller, a 62-year-old truck driver from Elkmont, Alabama, was not hurt in the collision.
Both Moffitt and McCann graduated in May from Sequatchie County High School.
Football was Moffitt’s passion. On Facebook, Austin Moffitt’s former coach, Shawn Cooley, wrote: “Austin Moffitt was such a terrific young man and player.”
Additionally, McCann’s family has requested the community to pray for them as they grieve their unexpected and devastating loss by posting heartbroken tributes to their deceased loved one online.
‘This young man was a not just a brother to me and so many others but also someone you could look up to as he always had a smile on his face and a joke to tell,’ one of Moffitt’s team colleagues wrote on the internet.
On Facebook, the Sequatchie County Quarterback Club said that it would accept donations to help with the costs of Moffitt’s funeral. On Friday, October 7, a BBQ will also be held at the Sequatchie County Football Stadium.
