A pre-dawn crash Wednesday has taken the life of a Malden, Missouri, man.

According to investigators, 23-year-old Steven W. Childers II died at the scene when a 2006 Ford F-150 truck failed to yield on U.S. 60 and Route E near Morehouse, Missouri, and struck Childers' 2012 Nissan Altima at 6:25 a.m.

The driver of the truck, 19-year-old Gabriel Massey of Sikeston, Missouri, suffered moderate injury and was taken to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

Both motorists were wearing seat belts and their vehicles were totaled in the crash.

State Highway Patrol said Childers' death is the 56th fatality thus far in MSHP's Troop E in 2023.