EMCC player dies in car crash

SCOOBA – Three East Mississippi Community College football players were involved in a car accident near Meridian on Wednesday and there was one fatality.

Television stations reported and Gulfport school administrators confirmed that Zae Crain, Jeremiah Braziel and Keon Moore were involved in the wreck near Meridian. Crain died on impact in information provided by Gulfport school administrators.

Crain, Moore and Braziel played football on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and were on their way home for the Fourth of July holiday.

“The death of Zae Crain comes as an absolute blow to the EMCC family,” EMCC head football coach Buddy Stephens said in a statement released by the school. “His death reminds us of how fragile life is and to not let a day go by without holding our loved ones near. Zae was a great student, a great athlete, and did everything with a smile on his face. We ask in the coming days that you keep Zae’s family in your thoughts and prayers. We also ask that you lift up Jeremiah Braziel and Keon Moore as they recover from this tragic day.”

In an update from EMCC athletics on Thursday afternoon, Moore had been released from the hospital , while Braziel was undergoing surgery in Jackson.

The wreck happened on Interstate 59 in Clarke County, according to WTOK-TV in Meridian.

In an Associated Press report, the Mississippi Highway Patrol said a Toyota Avalon traveling on Interstate 59 left the highway, struck a tree and overturned. Police haven’t said what caused the wreck.