District Attorney Chris Hennis reported on Thursday, September 21, 2023, Joseph Lee Frankin was sentenced to 50 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections with 30 years to serve incarcerated followed by 20 years of supervised post release supervision for the crime of Aggravated Driving Under the Influence Causing Death. Franklin was indicted for the February 12, 2021, motor vehicle accident that occurred around 7:30 a.m. on Highway 43 in Simpson County and which caused the deaths of high school seniors Damion Ford and Eric McKenny and serious injuries to two other teenagers in the vehicle. The accident occurred while the students were on their way to school. Evidence developed during the investigation by the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol showed that Franklin traveled into the northbound lane of Highway 43 and struck the car full of teenagers head-on resulting in the deaths of Damion Ford and Eric McKenny. It was determined through a blood sample taken pursuant to a search warrant that Franklin was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the accident.
Franklin’s decision to speed on a wet highway while under the influence of methamphetamine cut short the lives of two very bright and talented young people and forever changed the lives of their families. The decision to use alcohol or drugs and then get behind the wheel of an automobile is a very selfish decision that can have deadly, life altering consequences.
I want to thank the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol and specifically the Accident Reconstruction Team made up of Troopers Johnathan Smith and Barry Stingley, Jr., for the outstanding investigation conducted in this case. Because of the very thorough and technical reconstruction performed by the Troopers, my office was able to show that the wreck was caused by the negligence of Joseph Lee Franklin in that he was speeding and failed to maintain his proper lane of travel while operating his motor vehicle under the influence of methamphetamines.
