A former area woman died Jan. 15 in a head-on crash on Highway 79 in Lincoln County as result of an allegedly intoxicated motorist who drove into her lane.

Zola A. Rodey, 60, Winfield, Mo., was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash reported at 12:35 p.m. this past Tuesday. Rodey was driving a 1999 Jeep Cherokee south on Highway 79 south of Route C when a 2008 Dodge Ram pickup truck traveling north crossed into her path.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Major Crash Unit reconstruction of the incident. Cannon J. Alonzo’s Ram truck hit Rodey head-on and rotated, impacting the front of a third vehicle, a 2006 Ford Explorer driven by a 72-year-old Elsberry, Mo., woman identified as Marilyn K. Tillothson. She was not injured.

Rodey and Tillothson were both wearing seat belts the MSHP reported. Cannon was not.

Cannon, 55, also of Winfield, was seriously injured and was taken by St. Charles County ambulance to St. Joseph Hospital in St. Charles. He was arrested at 1:01 p.m. at scene and released to the hospital for treatment. He faces felony charges for driving while intoxicated as a chronic offender and DWI in a crash causing another person’s death.

Court records show Cannon has prior guilty pleas to driving while intoxicated charges from 2003 and 2007. Both were in Lincoln County. The second resulted in a 90-day county jail term and two years of supervised probation which he completed in April 2009.

He was issued citations on Jan. 2 in St. Charles County for speeding 26 to 30 miles and hour over the posted limit and driving while suspended or revoked. Those cases stem from a report made on Nov. 20, 2018.