Traffic Accident Claims 2 Lives

Press Release from Murphy Police Department - Reference Motor Vehicle Collision On 01/23/2017 On Highway 19/74:

On Monday January 23rd 2017 at around 3:30 pm, the Cherokee County 911 Dispatch received several 911 calls in reference to a two vehicle collision with injuries on Highway 19/74 at the Wal-Mart intersection.

First responders, along with Murphy Police Department and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, responded to the scene. Upon arrival, first responders found a two vehicle collision with a small passenger vehicle and a sports utility vehicle. First responders found three patients inside the small passenger vehicle that had come to rest just outside the eastbound travel lanes of Highway 19/74, and one patient inside the sports utility vehicle that had come to rest in the middle of the eastbound travel lanes of Highway 19/74.  One male subject with a Kentucky address was transported to a hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee. One female with a Kentucky address was found deceased at the scene of the collision. One female with a Kentucky address was transported from the collision scene and later died.

The collision is currently under investigation by the Murphy Police Department and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

The Murphy Police Department asks if anyone witnessed this collision, please contact the Murphy Police Department at (828) 837-2214.  

​The Murphy Police Department would like to thank all the agencies involved with assistance in this terrible incident.  Cherokee County 911 Dispatch, Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, The North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Murphy Volunteer Fire Department, Cherokee County Emergency Services and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.    

Dustin D. Smith
Assistant Chief of Police 
Murphy Police Department