Effingham Woman Killed in Crash North of Beecher City (FINAL UPDATE)

An Effingham woman was killed in a head-on crash north of Beecher City Friday morning.

Fayette County Coroner Bruce Bowen said 22-year-old Sheridan P. Compton of Effingham was fatally injured when her car crossed the centerline of Illinois 128 and collided head-on with an oncoming pickup truck. The crash happened around 9:45am about a mile north of the Illinois 33 junction, which is just west of Beecher City. Bowen pronounced Compton dead at the scene at 10:36am. An Illinois State Police accident reconstruction officer said that Compton's car continued straight through the curve on the highway north of Beecher City, leading to the head-on crash.

The driver of the pickup truck, 48-year-old Charles Marts, Jr. of Cowden, was injured and was taken to St. Anthony's Memorial Hosptial in Effingham for treatment. 

Earlier information that Compton lived outside the Effingham area was incorrect, although Illinois State Police listed Compton as residing in Walshville, Illinois. State police were assisted at the scene by Tri-County and Shumway firefighters who worked to extricate Compton from her vehicle and by Effingham City-County Ambulance Service.

An autopsy was performed Saturday at St. Anthony's to help determine the official cause of death.