Crash claims three lives

November 21, 2019

Editor’s note: Corrected 14:11 Nov. 21

TYLER -- A two-vehicle collision in the Jacksonville area claimed the lives of three area residents.

Department of Public Safety troopers responded to the crash at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 20.

Bryon Andrew Luna, 54, of Reklaw; and Robert Earl Sanders, 64, and Johnny T. Sanders, 84, both of Cushing, were all pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on State Highway 204, 1.4 miles southeast of the city of Jacksonville by Cherokee County Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Judge Rodney Wallace.

All three were taken to Autry Funeral Home in Jacksonville.

Preliminary investigation reports indicate Sanders, driving a 2017 Nissan Altima, was traveling southeast on SH 204 while Luna, the driver of a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe, was traveling northwest in the opposite direction.

“The Altima, for an unknown reason, crossed the center stripe and struck the front left of the Tahoe,” preliminary reports state. “The Tahoe caught fire. The Altima came to rest in the southbound lane facing southeast.”

The crash remains under investigation.