Country star Hank Williams Jr.'s 27-year-old daughter killed in car accident
Katherine Williams-Dunning, the daughter of country music singer Hank Williams Jr. and his third wife, Mary Jane, died in a car accident in Tennessee in the US on Saturday evening. She was 27.
Tennessee Highway Patrol confirmed to Yahoo Entertainment that Williams-Dunning suffered fatal injuries when the 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe she was driving crashed around 7:45 p.m. Her husband, Tyler J. Dunning, 29, was in the passenger seat, and was flown to a nearby emergency room with injuries.
Williams-Dunning’s vehicle was traveling south on Highway 79 while towing a boat when it crossed the dividing median of the highway and began a rollover sequence, according to Tennessee Highway Patrol. The vehicle crossed the northbound lanes and came to a final rest on the east shoulder of the roadway.
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“This is an active investigation and more details will be made available later,” a Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman said, according to The Paris Post-Intelligencer.
On his Facebook page, Katherine’s brother, musician Sam Williams, took to social media to request prayers for his family. The page has since been removed.
Williams-Dunning’s 71-year-old father is the son of legendary country star Hank Williams, and is famed for country rock hits like “Wild Streak” and his long-running anthem for Monday Night Football. She was the youngest of Williams’s five children, who include country and punk rock performer Hank Williams III.
On her Instagram page, Williams-Dunning frequently posted photos of herself and her father. Just two weeks ago, she posted a childhood photo of herself in her dad’s arms in honour of his birthday.
“A throwback to show y’all that I have always been a daddy’s girl!” Williams-Dunning wrote. “Happy birthday to my Daddio, my hero! The lessons you have taught me in this life are by far some of the most precious gifts that I will ever receive! I hope you had the best day!”
A mother of two, Williams-Dunning also ran a clothing company called Weston Jane. Created “as a way to build moms up,” the products are all handmade or printed by mothers, the page reads.
On her Instagram page, Williams-Dunning’s older sister, Holly Audrey Williams, shared a family photo taken on Friday.
“I have no words. On Friday morning I talked the family into taking this picture and had no idea it would be our last together with my precious little sister Katie. We all went to my great-aunt’s funeral on Thursday whom we all loved dearly, and now are faced with another one,” she wrote. “ALL we need is prayers. My daddy. My little brother. Katie’s husband (he is awake and responding; don’t know injury extent yet). My niece and nephew. Her Mama. The Dunning family. All of us. So. Many. Prayers. Jesus is close. Thank you all.”
She closed the post a verse from the Bible: “Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.”
Williams Jr. has not yet issued a public statement about his daughter’s death.