JANUARY 8, 2025|
Photo – Booking photo of Arthur Nelson – Bigfoot99 file photo
The 59-year-old Tennessee man serving a century long prison sentence at the Wyoming Medium Correction Institution in Torrington, after being found guilty for causing a deadly crash on Interstate 80 two years ago, died yesterday.
Arthur Nelson was convicted of five counts of Aggravated Homicide by Vehicle and one count of Driving Under the Influence. He was given 18-20 years for each of first five counts, to be served consecutively. Nelson was given 8-10 years for the DUI.
On the evening of January 22nd, three years ago, Nelson was allegedly high on methamphetamine and driving eastbound in the westbound lanes on Interstate 80 near Rawlins in a Dodge Pickup truck. A semi-truck, attempting to avoid Nelson’s vehicle, veered into the eastbound lane and collided, head-on, with a Ford F150 carrying five students from Sherwood, Arkansas. Both the semi-truck and Ford F150 were engulfed in flames.
The five young people traveling home in the pickup were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the commercial rig was seriously burned in the resulting fire.
The young victims from Arkansas were identified as Suzy Prime, Ava Luplow, Salomon Correa, Magdalene “Maggie” Franco, and Andrea Prime. Suzy Prime, 18, and Andrea, 23, were sisters.
The students were members of the Faith Bible Fellowship Church in Sherwood, Arkansas. A week after their tragic deaths, the church held a memorial service to honor and celebrate the lives of the five victims, who were described as faithful, loving, and talented. Hundreds of people attended the service, which was live streamed online. The church also set up a GoFundMe page to help the families of the victims with funeral and travel expenses. The page raised over $100,000 in donations from more than 1,500 people.
The unidentified female driver of the semi-truck was transported to the Colorado Burn Center in Greeley with severe burns. Her condition is not known. Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Corey McCallister, who responded to the crash scene, said in a written affidavit, “I observed plastic begin to melt around her face. I observed the majority of her face and head to be burned.”
Bigfoot99 reporter Matt Copeland called the Mississippi-based trucking company that owned the semi for an update on the driver. A representative from MS Freight declined to provide a comment.
Nelson began serving his lengthy sentence late in 2024.
