COVINGTON – A suspected impaired driver was killed after traveling the wrong way and colliding with an 18-wheeler head-on on I-12 in Covington.

Around 1 a.m. on Friday, State Police responded to a two-vehicle crash involving an 18-wheeler on I-12 between LA 59 and US 190.

Troopers learned that 55-year-old Perry Nunez was driving a Buick Century eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-12. Nunez crashed head-on into an 18-wheeler traveling westbound driven by 38-year-old Justin Lamar Flood.

Nunez was wearing his seat belt however he sustained fatal injuries in the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene by the St. Tammany Parish Coroner's Office.

Troopers suspect impairment to have been a factor in the crash. Blood samples were obtained and will be sent to the State Police crime lab for analysis.

Flood, the driver of the 18-wheeler, was wearing his seat belt and was not injured in the crash. He submitted a breath sample that showed no sign of alcohol. A passenger in Flood's 18-wheeler, 20-year-old Jaquan Flood, sustained minor injuries in the crash and was transported to an area hospital.