The victim of Wednesday morning’s two-vehicle accident on KY 144 has been identified as a 31-year-old Reynolds Station man.
According to the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office, the victim was Joseph Prater, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the other vehicle, identified as 33-year-old Charles Mattingly, of Owensboro, was severely injured and was flown to University of Louisville Hospital with critical injuries, according to DCSO.
According to a release, the crash happened at approximately 5:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 8500 block of KY 144 near the intersection of Botelor Road in the Ensor community. Emergency crews from DCSO, Daviess County Fire Department, Knottsville Fire Department, and AMR Ambulance Service responded.
A preliminary investigation found that a westbound pickup truck was struck head-on by an eastbound SUV. Prater was driving the pickup truck, while Mattingly was driving the SUV. No other people were involved in the crash, according to the release.
The Daviess County Coroner’s Office responded to conduct a death investigation, and the sheriff’s office Accident Reconstruction Unit is handling the crash investigation. KY 144 was shut down during the response, with a detour set up at Pleasant Valley Road and Botelor Road. The road reopened around 8 a.m.
