A 22 year-old Grenada County man was killed late last Friday afternoon after he was thrown from the ATV that he was operating just off Sweethome Road near Holcomb.
The Grenada County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as Colton Perry. According to Sheriff Roland Fair, a motorist called 911 after discovering Perry’s Polaris Ranger overturned near Sweethome A.M.E. Church and its cemetery. Grenada County Coroner Douglas Yates pronounced Perry dead at the scene of the accident, which occurred just before 4 p.m.
It was solemn at the site of the crash as members of the Holcomb Community, including firefighters with the Holcomb Volunteer Fire Department assembled close by as the sheriff’s office processed the crash. Family members later arrived at the scene in the quiet fork that leads to Holcomb.
The Polaris was overturned at the entrance of the church cemetery and the roadway was blocked as the deputies continued to work the scene. Some of the HVFD firefighters helped with traffic control.
Perry was a graduate of Grenada High School and a member of the high school marching band. He graduated in 2017.
GHS band director Joe Presley recalled Perry fondly.
“He played percussion and was very talented,” Presley said Monday morning.
According to HVFD Chief Danny Thomas, Perry had recently become a member of the volunteer fire department and was always a well-mannered young man.
“He was always ‘no sir’ and ‘yes sir’ to me,” Thomas said. “I joked with him a few weeks ago and told him that he was making me feel old. Well, he just kept on saying it, which tells me that he was raised right. You don’t find many like that anymore. He was very friendly.”
Thomas said Perry told him that he worked on the pipeline and according to the sheriff’s department, he was helping on a construction job and was headed home when the accident occurred.
Thomas added that members of the HVFD are handling the loss the best way they can, but it will take some time.
“His dad and his uncle are members of the fire department out here,” Thomas concluded. “We’re doing the best we can dealing with this.”
Thomas said the HVFD prepared one of Holcomb’s fire trucks to be part of the processional following Perry’s funeral. He was buried in Grenada Memorial Garden.
