The small town of Shubuta is reeling today after a quiet morning turned into a nightmare. Waking up to the news that a neighbor isn’t coming home is a heavy blow for anyone. For the loved ones of Howard Austin, a 63-year-old local resident, that nightmare became a reality early Friday morning.
It was pitch black around 2:00 a.m. on July 10, 2026, when the incident occurred. Austin was out walking along U.S. Highway 45, right near County Road 345. It is a rural stretch of road in the Rolling Creek Community that gets incredibly dark and lonely after midnight.
For reasons investigators are still trying to piece together, Austin was walking right down the middle of the southbound lane. On a high-speed highway like 45, that is an exceptionally dangerous spot to be. In the dead of night, visibility is low, and drivers simply do not expect to see a person on the asphalt.
Suddenly, a massive 2022 International 18-wheeler came barreling down that same southbound lane. The driver, Mario Mosley from nearby Alabama, was just trying to finish his run. He caught sight of Austin standing directly in his path with only split seconds to react.
Mosley slammed on the brakes and yanked the steering wheel hard. He sent the massive semi-truck partially off the highway into the dirt, doing everything humanly possible to avoid a collision. It was a desperate maneuver to save a stranger’s life.
But there just was not enough time or space to stop the heavy rig. The right front corner of the 18-wheeler struck Austin with devastating force. Both the semi-truck and Austin finally came to a rest along the shoulder of the southbound lane.
Emergency crews rushed out to the scene, but the injuries were far too severe. Austin tragically passed away from the impact. State troopers from the Meridian post had the heavy task of notifying his family as the sun came up, leaving a tight-knit community asking for prayers and searching for answers.
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