August 25, 2023 |
Photo – January Mugshot of Arthur Andrew Nelson – Bigfoot99 file photo
The wrong-way driver accused of killing five college students on Interstate 80 near Sinclair earlier this year has been found not competent to stand trial.
Arthur Andrew Nelson, 58-years old, of Limestone, Tennessee, has been declared incompetent to stand trial for the wrong-way crash that resulted in the deaths of five young people near Sinclair. The five students were returning home to Arkansas after visiting a Jackson Hole bible college.
In court documents filed last month, forensic psychologist Dr. Amanda Turlington, from Sheridan, said “the defendant is incompetent to proceed at this time, however, potentially has the capability to achieve competency restoration.” Forensic psychology is the use of mental health knowledge in a legal setting.
Following Dr. Turlington’s findings, the case against Nelson was suspended until he can be made well enough to stand trial. Nelson has been committed to the Wyoming State Hospital in Evanston. Hospital staff are ordered to update the court on Nelson’s mental health every three months.
If Nelson is declared mentally competent enough to face a trial, he will face five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide.
On the evening of January 22, 2023, Nelson was allegedly high on meth while driving the wrong way on Interstate 80. Nelson, behind the wheel of his Dodge Ram 3500 pickup truck, was traveling east in the westbound lane when a semi-truck, attempting to avoid Nelson’s vehicle, veered into the eastbound lanes and collided, head-on, with a Ford F150 carrying five students from Sherwood, Arkansas.
Both the semi-truck and Ford F150 were almost immediately engulfed in flames. All five young people were pronounced dead at the scene.
The five students were returning home to Arkansas after visiting Jackson Hole Bible College. The victims were Suzy Prime, Ava Luplow, Salomon Correa, Magdalene “Maggie” Franco, and Andrea Prime. Suzy Prime, 18, and Andrea, 23, are sisters.
The female driver of the truck was engulfed in flames inside the cab of her truck and was severely burned.
The dead students were all 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 also 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 father of the two Prime sisters, Phil Prime, said he forgave Nelson, the driver who caused the fatal crash. Prime said he was praying for Nelson and his family. The grieving father said his faith and belief in God helped him cope with the sudden loss of his daughters, Suzy and Andrea.
The unidentified female driver of the semi-truck was transported to the Colorado Burn Center in Greely, Colorado, 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 began to melt around her face. I observed the majority of her face and head to be burned.”
Bigfoot99’s reporter called the trucking company that owns the semi, MS Freight out of Grenada, Mississippi, for an update on the driver. A representative from MS Freight responded to our reporter’s questions with, “No comment.”
