August 1, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
A McMinnville woman lost her life in a three vehicle crash Friday afternoon on Highway 70 at Liberty.
Dead is 22 year old Keley Roller.
According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Roller was traveling west in a 2013 Honda Civic when her car crossed the turn lane and sideswiped a gray 2000 Chevy Silverado pickup truck, driven by 69 year old William Bell, Jr. of Dowelltown. 88 year old Jenelle Pugh of Dowelltown was a passenger with Bell. Roller’s car then spun into the path of an eastbound 1996 red Dodge Ram pickup truck directly behind Bell driven by 69 year old Jerry Dutton of Liberty. The front of Dutton’s truck struck the side of Roller’s car
Neither Bell or Dutton was injured but Pugh was transported by DeKalb EMS to Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital and later to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville.
Members of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department’s Liberty Station and the Rescue and Extrication Team were on the scene along with officers of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department.
The crash was investigated by Trooper T.J. Withers and Trooper Rodney Whiles of the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The cause has not been determined but according to the THP Roller’s medical condition may have played a part since she was an insulin-dependent diabetic.