A distracted dump truck driver rear-ended a Kia sedan late Monday morning, resulting in two deaths and critical injuries to a passenger in the Kia, according to Kentucky State Police.

Jonathan McDaniel, 32, of Morgantown, was driving a white Kia north in the right lane near the 12-mile marker on the William Natcher Parkway when his car was struck from behind by a dump truck driven by Patrick Powell, 49, of Elkton, according to Kentucky State Police Post 3 spokesman Trooper B.J. Eaton. State police were called to the collision at 10:41 a.m.

Jonathan’s father, John McDaniel, 56, of Morgantown, a front-seat passenger, was thrown from the vehicle and was flown to TriStar Skyline Medical Center in Nashville. The back-seat passenger, Jonathan’s mother, Cindy Carol McDaniel, 52, of Morgantown, was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:20 a.m., Warren County Deputy Coroner David Goens said.

Jonathan McDaniel was also flown to Skyline, Eaton said, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

At the scene, the Kia looked as though the top of the car had been crushed and that the dump truck had driven over some portion of the car. 

“It appears that there was some override,” KSP Lt. Tim Adams said.

Powell told police he was distracted when he struck the slow-moving car and didn’t see it until it was too late, Eaton said. The force of the collision pushed the Kia into the guard rail, where John McDaniel was tossed from the vehicle.

In a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report issued this month, 10 percent of fatal crashes, 18 percent of injury crashes and 16 percent of all police-reported motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2014 were related to distracted driving. That same year, 3,179 people were killed and 431,000 injured due to distracted drivers.

Cindy Carol McDaniel’s body will be sent for an autopsy at the state medical examiner’s office in Louisville, Goens said. 

Powell drives for Lear Trucking. As of Monday afternoon, there were no criminal charges pending against him, Eaton said. No one answered the phone Monday afternoon at Lear Trucking.

None of the three occupants of the Kia were wearing seat belts, Eaton said. Powell was wearing a seat belt. 

John McDaniel was listed late Monday afternoon in serious condition, hospital spokeswoman Anna-Lee Cockrill said. 

— Follow Assistant City Editor Deborah Highland on Twitter @BGDNCrimebeat or visit bgdailynews.com.