GENTRY — Sophia Asencio-Porter, a 2014 graduate of Gentry High School, was killed on Friday morning when the car she was driving collided head-on with a tractor-trailer truck on Arkansas Highway 59, just south of Gentry.
According to a release from the Arkansas State Police, Asencio-Porter, 18, was driving northbound on Highway 59 at approximately 4:30 a.m. in a 1997 Nissan Maxima. Her car, according to the state police, crossed the center turning lane and both southbound lanes just south of Arkotex Road and was struck head-on by a southbound Simmons Foods tractor-trailer truck (a 2013 Mack) driven by Richard Snell, 58, of Grove, Okla.
Snell attempted to avoid the accident and entered the ditch on the west side of the highway, according to the release. Snell was injured in the accident and transported to the Siloam Springs Regional Hospital. He was in fair condition Friday, according to the release.
"It is presumed that Ms. Asencio-Porter fell asleep, causing the accident," the release states.
Asencio-Porter was listed as dead at the scene.
According to her high school cheer coach, Joni Wilson, Asencio-Porter was returning from teaching a cheer camp out of state and was to leave with her family on Friday morning to go on vacation.
Asencio-Porter moved to Gentry from Illinois as an eighth grader and finished her high school years at Gentry High School as a top cheerleader, winning numerous awards, including being named to All-State Cheer. In May, she signed a scholarship agreement with the University of Arkansas in Ft. Smith to attend there in the fall and continue as a cheerleader for the Lions as a member of the Ft. Smith cheer squad.
She was selected to be on the National Cheerleader Association staff this summer and was to train in Florida and be an instructor at cheer camps around the country over the summer months before attending UAFS in the fall.
Visitation will be at 1 p.m. until service time, Monday, June 23, at First Baptist Church, Gentry. Funeral services will be at 3 p.m., Monday, June 23, at First Baptist Church, Gentry, with Pastor Bruce Potter officiating. Burial will follow at Springtown Cemetery, Springtown. Wasson Funeral Home, Siloam Springs, is in charge of arrangements.