Two Ole Miss students killed in head-on Oxford crash

A black Chevrolet Tahoe crossed the median near the Highway 7 ramp and 18th Street overpass on U.S. Highway 278, then struck the Wheat vehicle head-on and killed two University of Mississippi students. Katherine Sarah Wheat, 24, died at the scene, and her brother, William John Wheat, 30, was airlifted to The Med in Memphis and later died.

Oxford police said the crash happened about 11:07 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, as the Wheat vehicle was traveling westbound. Lafayette County Coroner Rocky Kennedy confirmed William Wheat was driving and Katherine Wheat was his passenger. The driver of the other vehicle, later identified as John Howard Strickland Jr., 21, of San Antonio, was treated for injuries at Baptist Memorial Hospital and later released.

The deaths hit the Ole Miss campus hard because both siblings were active students with close ties to the university. Thomas Sparky Reardon, then UM’s dean of students, said the university was mourning the loss and would help the family and friends through the grief. Katherine Wheat, who also went by Sarah, was a communication science and disorders major. William Wheat was studying accountancy.

Later accounts showed the siblings had been returning to campus from Tupelo after attending a charity Race for the Cure 5K run/walk. Sarah Wheat had been a founding member and goalie on the Ole Miss women’s club lacrosse team and was named Southeastern Women’s Lacrosse League Goalie of the Year in 2011. William Wheat had helped coach the Ole Miss club lacrosse team and a local youth team, adding another layer of loss for classmates, teammates and younger players who knew him on the field.

The case carried on long after the wreck. Oxford police said toxicology testing was sought before charges were decided, and Strickland later pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI in the deaths. He received a 25-year sentence with 13 years suspended and 12 to serve. For William and Frances Wheat of Crofton, Maryland, and for an Oxford campus that already knew the two students well, the crash became a lasting reminder of how quickly a highway collision can become a family and community disaster.