Christmas Eve wreck injures 5-year-old

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Deputy Jason Walker surveys the damage to a vehicle driven by Mandy Sweeton which was struck as she was making a turn onto Jacksboro Highway. Sweeton’s 5-year-old child was seriously injured in the crash and was airlifted from the scene. (Duane Sherrill p

A 5-year-old was seriously injured Christmas Eve when his mother’s car was struck broadside as she turned in front of an oncoming vehicle at Centertown.

The 5-year-old, whose name was not available, is the child of Mandy Sweeton of Manchester, who was the driver. The child was airlifted to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga, where he is recovering from the critical injury.

The child was among seven people hurt in the two-car crash which occurred Christmas Eve afternoon at the intersection of Nashville Highway and Jacksboro Road in front of Centertown Church of Christ.

According to Highway Patrolman Darrell Gribble, Sweeton was traveling westbound, away from McMinnville, on Nashville Highway in her Dodge Colt when she attempted to make a left turn onto Jacksboro Highway at the crest of a hill. In making the turn, she entered the path of the oncoming eastbound Ford truck driven by Manuel Ochoa and was struck in the passenger-side. Sweeton later told lawmen she did not see the oncoming Ochoa vehicle when she started her turn. Ochoa told lawmen he had no time to react when she entered his path.

The impact was centered where Sweeton’s child was sitting in a child restraint device, accounting for the serious injury to the child even with a proper child restraint system. The remainder of Sweeton’s passengers escaped serious injuries.

The Ochoa vehicle continued through a front yard after initial impact, striking a nearby tree before coming to rest. Ochoa and his sons, Ivan, 5, and Christian, 8, were treated for noncritical injuries.