A teen is dead after a school bus crash in Panola County.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol has confirmed the driver collided with a South Panola School bus around 7:15 a.m. Wednesday morning. Family members confirm the victim is Katelyn Ray.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol says Ray’s car rear ended the back of a South Panola School bus on Highway 15 near Highway 6 in Panola County. Ray was headed to pick up her older sister from work.
“I said don’t forget to pick your sister up. She said okay. Love you. And I said I love you too,” Shelia Ray, the victim’s mother explained.
That was the last conversation Shelia Ray had with her daughter.
“We’ve been trying to call her and call her, no answer and then I got a phone call from the highway patrol, that said she had been really bad car accident,” Ray said.
MHP says the car Ray was in slammed into the back of the bus.
“I get off work at seven o’clock and that’s when I got worried because she wasn’t there. So, I gave her maybe 10 to 15 minutes. She may have stopped somewhere got her something to eat or something. About 7:30 a.m. when she wasn’t there, that’s when we started worrying,” the victim’s sister, Courtney Pettit said.
Not knowing where her sister was, she made a Facebook post asking anyone if they had seen her. Shortly after that, the family got the news.
“We don’t know what situation she was in, but when you look at that car, you can only think the worse,” said Stephanie Pettit, Katelyn’s aunt.
Katelyn Ray was proud aunt and she was taking GED classes at the WIN Job Center.
“A happy person like she was just happy, outgoing, bubbly. She loved hanging out with friends and family,” her sister said. “She was outgoing. She loved life, she loved her family.”
MHP continues to investigate the crash that took Ray’s life. Local 24 News learned she just got ‘her drivers’ license 2 months prior to the accident.
