Memphis National Guardsman killed in training exercise returns home Saturday

The body of Pfc. Tara Turnage, a Memphis National Guardsman killed during a California training exercise May 7, will return home Saturday morning with a funeral planned next week in Holly Springs, Miss.

Her mother, LaQuita Darnell, said her daughter's body is scheduled to arrive at Memphis International Airport at 10 a.m. Saturday. A funeral is planned for Thursday in the North Mississippi town where Turnage grew up.

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Turnage, 26, died when she was pinned between two vehicles at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif. She was among more than 3,000 Tennessee Army National Guard members from across the state participating in a month-long training exercise before deployments to Poland and the Ukraine later this year.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Awakening Christian Center, 231 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Holly Springs. A wake will be 5-7 p.m. Wednesday. J.F. Brittenum & Son Funeral Home in Holly Springs has charge.

Turnage grew up in Holly Springs, about 50 miles southeast of Memphis, and graduated from Holly Springs High School in 2010 before moving to Memphis. Her mother still lives in Holly Springs.

Turnage was engaged at the time of her death, and she leaves a 7-year-old daughter, NiKyiah Humphreys.