WALTON, Ky. — Two women are dead and another person is critically injured after a crash involving a dump truck in Walton, Kentucky..
Boone County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to the crash just before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of U.S. 42 and Beaver Road, where they found a dump truck had crashed into the Boonedocks Bar and Grill.
Lieutenant Chris Hall with the Boone County Sheriff's Office said in a press release a 2025 Chevy Equinox was traveling eastbound on Beaver Road and stopped at the intersection with U.S. 42.
The driver of the Equinox was making a left turn onto U.S. 42 when the car collided with a dump truck traveling northbound, according to the release.
The driver of the dump truck attempted to brake and steer to the right to avoid the collision but was unable to do so and struck the Equinox, according to Hall.
Hall said the Equinox exited the roadway, hit a guardrail in the southbound lanes of traffic and overturned, coming to a rest on its top. The dump truck exited the road, hit four unoccupied parked cars in a parking lot before striking and half entering the Boonedocks Bar and Grill building.
Two passengers inside the Equinox, Eva Mulberry, 91, of Williamstown, Ky., and Betty Hillard, 89, of Lexington, Ky., were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Equinox was transported to a hospital with what were described as "critical life-threatening injuries." The driver was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
No one inside the Boonedocks Bar & Grill was hurt.
Watch the aftermath of the fatal crash from inside business:
Photos sent into our newsroom showed the truck partially inside the restaurant.
Amanda Dearing works at Boonedocks and was inside the restaurant when the crash happened. She said there were around six people inside, all sitting by the bar, when they initially heard a crash outside the building.
“We heard it, and then it came through the building, and then glass, everything just went everywhere. It sounded like a freight train going through a wall," said Dearing.
The dump truck crashed through one of the walls, destroying the area.
Restaurant owners Leslie Lovelace and Melissa Kroth came to the scene after the crash. They told us the intersection is a problem area and said the restaurant and its items can be replaced, but human life cannot.
“Our hearts go out to those families that were hurt," said Kroth. "Like Leslie said, everything else can be replaced, but not the lives of those people.”
Hall said all drivers and passengers were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash. Deputies believe speed and impairment were not factors involved in the crash but will still investigate. Hall mentioned there was limited visibility at the intersection due to "the landscape of the roadway."
According to the Boone County Sheriff's Office, no charges have been filed and both drivers are cooperating with the investigation.
