Copperas Cove man killed in fatal Hill County crash
A Copperas Cove man died after his Acura was hit at a rural Hill County intersection, a crash that highlights the deadly risk on Texas farm-to-market roads.
A Copperas Cove man died in a Hill County intersection crash that sent a pickup driver to the hospital and put a harsh spotlight on the dangers of rural roads many Coryell County residents use every day.
Texas Department of Public Safety identified the victim as 36-year-old Young Yong Kim of Copperas Cove. Troopers said Kim was pronounced dead at the scene at FM 933 and FM 1304 south of Aquilla after the crash at 3:41 p.m. Monday, May 25.
Investigators said Kim was driving an Acura westbound on FM 1304 and approached a stop-controlled intersection. At the same time, a Ford pickup towing a gooseneck trailer was traveling north on FM 933. DPS said the Acura failed to yield the right of way at the stop sign and collided with the pickup and trailer.
The pickup driver, a 72-year-old man, was airlifted by CareFlite EMS to Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest in Waco. DPS said his injuries were non-life-threatening. Even so, the wreck left one man dead at the roadside and another seriously hurt, underscoring how quickly a rural crossing can turn violent when traffic meets at a stop-controlled junction.
The collision happened in a small part of Hill County where help can be farther away and roads are often fast-moving and lightly lit. Aquilla had a population of 101 in the 2020 census, a reminder of how isolated some of these farm-to-market routes can be when a crash occurs.
The broader danger is not limited to one intersection. TxDOT’s 2024 crash facts show that rural traffic fatalities made up 50.12% of Texas traffic deaths, or 2,080 deaths. That means more than half of the state’s fatal roadway losses happened outside urban areas, even though rural roads cover only part of Texas’ transportation network.
The medical response also showed the importance of regional air-ambulance coverage. CareFlite says it operates helicopter EMS with instrument-flight capability, and Air Methods has provided emergency air medical services from its Waco base to Coryell County since 2021, part of the trauma network that helps move critically injured patients from rural scenes to higher-level care.
The crash remains under investigation.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
