Maryville teen killed in one-vehicle accident

A 17-year-old Maryville boy was killed in a one-vehicle accident Tuesday, May 20. Deputies with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office responded to Shuler Road in Townsend shortly after 3 p.m. Stephen David Banton, 17, of Grey Ridge Road, Maryville, was pronounced dead at the scene by Rural/Metro Ambulance Service emergency medical personnel. A passenger in the vehicle, James Robert Mainor 18, Bart Giffin Road, Maryville, was treated at the scene. Banton was traveling west on Shuler Road when he lost control of his 1992 Chevrolet S-10 pick-up truck while negotiating a curve. Banton’s vehicle ran off the right side of the roadway, came back onto the roadway, and then ran off the left side of the road, hitting a ditch line and embankment and causing the vehicle to roll over once before coming to a rest on the road in an upright position. Banton was not wearing a seatbelt, though Malnor was wearing his seatbelt. Personnel with the Townsend Volunteer Fire Department also assisted at the scene. Blount County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Safety Unit Investigator Clay Collins is in charge of the accident investigation.