On the day of the accident, Onita Davis (victim) and David Davis, driller and the victim's husband, reported for work at the quarry at 7:00 a.m..  After changing a leaking hydraulic hose, they positioned the drill near the quarry face and drilled two holes.

At about 9:00 a.m., Onita Davis was measuring the depth of the second hole while David Davis moved the drill to begin the next hole.  When David Davis got out of the cab of the drill he saw Onita Davis lying on the ground.  Her hard hat had been broken and she had sustained injuries to the head and neck from a rock that had fallen from the highwall.  He moved her to a safer location and went to the mine office to summon help.

Grady Brooks, pit foreman, called the local 911 emergency assistance number.  Paramedics arrived a short time later but efforts to revive Onita Davis were unsuccessful.  The medical examiner pronounced her dead at the scene.