Jackson Man killed by asphalt after dump truck malfunction

JACKSON, Miss. – A Jackson man was killed after hot asphalt was poured on top of him after an apparent dump truck malfunction on Monday morning near AJ Materials on East McDowell Road in Jackson.

According to reports, Jackson Police were called there in reference to an “accident.” Upon arrival, Jackson police found a man who had been buried under hot asphalt.

The man, identified by the Hinds County coroner as Darrell Sheriff, 41, was underneath the truck working on a hydraulic line when the tailgate opened and the hot asphalt fell on him.

Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade said people on scene tried to help Sheriff and “he tried to fight to make it through those injuries but it was just too enormous for him to survive.”

“My prayers, condolences, thoughts, my heart goes out to his family,” said Wade during a press briefing regarding the incident.

Wade said that family members said Sheriff was a “good, hardworking family man who just trying to make a living.”

The Jackson Police Department has classified the death as an accident.