FRANKLIN
A Kentucky man is dead as the result of an accident in the early hours of Saturday.

Maj. Gene Drewery, spokesman for the Southampton County Sheriff’s Office, said that the department had received a report at approximately 1:25 a.m. of a single vehicle accident near the intersection of Smith’s Ferry Road (Hwy 258) and South Quay Road (Hwy189).

The driver, Ray N. Chapman, 49, of Murray, Kentucky, was pronounced dead at Southampton Memorial Hospital.

The passenger, Ronald Lee Johnson, 63, was airlifted to Sentara Norfolk Hospital for treatment. Johnson’s condition is not known.

Drewery added that the investigation indicates the vehicle ran off the roadway and struck a tree. The cause of the accident is undetermined at this time.