A Bartlett teenager was killed about one o’clock this morning near Cordova after losing control of his pick up truck on Pisgah Road.

Shelby County Sheriff's Office Traffic investigators say Bryant Kite, 17, of the Bartlett area, was driving west on Pisgah Road when his 2004 Dodge pick up truck left the roadway and flipped over just east of Stable Run. No other vehicles were involved.

Deputies say Kite's vehicle had just rounded a curve and that speed was a factor in the crash.

Traffic investigators say Kite was the only person in the truck. He was ejected from the vehicle and was dead at the scene. Deputies say Kite was not wearing a seatbelt.

Kite is the fifth person to be killed this year in traffic crashes investigated by Sheriff's Deputies. He is the second teenager to die in a traffic crash in 2007.

On February 19, 2007, Jacob Smith, 18, died from injuries he suffered in a one-vehicle traffic crash the night before near Millington. He lost control of his vehicle on Shelby Road and then struck a utility pole and several fence posts. As in today’s crash, Smith was speeding and not wearing his seatbelt.

Sheriff’s Office Traffic Investigators say juvenile drivers have been involved in 81 crashes this year, 14 of those crashes have resulted in injuries or death.