Wife of Carter County judge-executive dies in crash. Judge in stable condition
The Carter County judge-executive and his wife were involved in a fatal single-vehicle crash on I-64 near Morehead Wednesday morning.
Rose L. Malone, 74, was pronounced dead at the scene by Rowan County Coroner John P. Northcutt, a news release from the coroner’s office said. Mike Malone, the judge-executive in Carter County and Rose’s husband, was also involved in the crash.
After getting a report of the crash just before 7 a.m., first responders found ”a single pickup truck off of the roadway, down an embankment,” the release stated. The truck was found about a mile east of Morehead on the westbound side of the interstate.
The male driver, later identified as Mike Malone, was “extricated by the Morehead Fire Department and Farmers Volunteer Fire Department.” According to the coroner, he was transported to St. Claire Healthcare in Morehead and airlifted to UK Chandler Hospital in Lexington.
“On behalf of the Malone family, we wish to thank everyone for the outpouring of concern and support,” said the Carter County Fiscal Court in a statement posted to Facebook on Thursday.
The judge was in “critical but stable” condition, the court said.
“Rose was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother and friend who will be greatly missed,” the statement continued. “Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.”
According to the Kentucky County Judge/Executive Association, Mike had been judge-executive since 2015. He did not file for re-election this year. Brandon Burton, a local magistrate and the election winner, will be the judge-executive in Carter County come January.