A tragic accident occurred late Thursday night in the JW Corbett Wildlife Management area in Palm Beach County, resulting in the death of a 17-year-old passenger and leaving four others injured. According to WFLX, the accident happened on November 27 at around 10:52 p.m. when a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado, driven by 19-year-old James Robert Rankin Jr. of Lake Worth, lost control and collided with a tree on Stumpers Grade Road.
Upon deputies’ arrival from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, pronounced dead at the scene by Palm Beach County Fire Rescue was David Ewing of Lake Worth, as reported by WPBF. Notably, Ewing was the only individual in the vehicle wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. The driver and the other three passengers, all from western Palm Beach County, sustained various degrees of injuries.
In a detailed account of the accident obtained by WFLX, authorities described how the pickup began to drift off the roadway while negotiating a curve. As Rankin attempted to correct the vehicle’s path, it slid towards the right and struck a tree with its front passenger side…