A Sunday morning car accident in Brookhaven led to the death of a local man later that day, officials said.

     Shawn Smith, 19, of 612 East Chickasaw Street, was involved in a one-car accident on Congress Street at about 6:15 a.m. Sunday, said Police Chief Pap Henderson and Lincoln County Coroner Clay McMorris.

     Smith was initially transported to King’s Daughters Medical Center and was airlifted from there to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, said Henderson.

     Smith died in Jackson at about 8:20 a.m. McMorris said.

     The accident occurred at about the 500 block of Congress Street and appears to have occurred when Smith lost control of his vehicle, a 2004 Ford Crown Victoria.

     “At this time, it looks like he lost control traveling east on East Congress Street, went off on the right side, came back across and hit a tree,” Police Chief Henderson said. “The car flipped over, hit two mail boxes and hit another tree.”

     The Jaws of Life were used to cut Smith out of the vehicle, Henderson said.

     No one else was in the vehicle at the time of the accident and authorities don’t know of any witnesses to the accident.

     The cause of the accident remains under investigation, but authorities currently believe speed may have been a factor in the crash even if not a cause.

     “He had to be traveling at a high rate of speed to do the things he did,” said Henderson.

     Tyler Funeral Home in Brookhaven is in charge of arrangements.