The man killed in Monday evenings two vehicle collision near the Jones and Covington county line has been identified as 61-year-old E. L. Sullivan of Taylorsville.

Sgt. Perry Snyder, public information officer of the Mississippi Highway Patrol, said the accident occurred at about 3:57 p.m. on Highway 532, just 1.2 miles west of Highway 84. Sullivan was driving a riding lawn mower when it collided with a GMC pick-up driven by 32-year-old Jamie Burch of Hattiesburg.

Shortly after the accident, Burch said: “He just pulled right out in front of me. I was going about 40 to 45 miles per hour and I tried to swing to miss him. I just couldn’t avoid it; I just couldn’t stop in time.”

Snyder said the accident was the second to occur on Highway 532 Monday. “The first accident occurred about 2:43 p.m.,” said Snyder. “It occurred on Highway 532, three miles west of Hot Coffee.”

Snyder said a 1993 Ford pick-up, driven by 50-year-old David Lee Miller of Leakesville was headed east when the accident occurred. His vehicle collided with a Kawasaki motorcycle driven by the Rev. Leon Lee Tillman, a 40-year-old minister from Jackson.

The Rev. Arthur Logan, pastor of Union Baptist Church in Laurel said Tillman was pastor of Pine Grove Missionary Baptist Church, also of Laurel. Tillman was also a member of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Laurel and Jones County.

“It’s tragic. We heard about his death from someone in the area who knew him,” said Logan. “People started calling around when the news of his death spread.”