6 die in South Arkansas car wrecks

Separate vehicle crashes in South Arkansas in the days before Christmas claimed the lives of six people.

Information was compiled from preliminary fatal crash summaries posted by Arkansas State Police.

On Saturday, Dec. 20, a Texarkana pedestrian was struck and killed on Arkansas Highway 82. A report says 47-year-old Christopher Lamin was walking in the roadway near its intersection with Vanderbilt Road when an eastbound 2010 Toyota struck and killed him. Weather and road conditions were clear when the collision occurred at 8 p.m.

On Sunday, Dec. 21, a Nashville woman died in a crash at the Nevada County town of Emmet. Marshauntie T. Sanders, 30, was traveling on US Highway 67 when the 2015 Ford Edge she was driving left the roadway and struck an embankment. The weather and roads were clear when the crash happened at 1:16 a.m.

A second crash early Sunday morning on US Highway 79 left a Magnolia man dead and a Waldo woman injured. Therran R. Moreno, 19, was driving a 2013 Chevy Tahoe north when the vehicle left the roadway and struck an embankment, overturning the vehicle and ejecting Moreno. His passenger, Summer Murphy, also 19, was transported to Magnolia Regional Center for treatment to unlisted injuries. The weather was clear and the roads were dry at the time of the crash, at 3:07 a.m.

A third car accident Sunday morning killed two Star City residents in the Desha County city of Dumas. James Dale Wilcox Jr., 63, was driving a 2023 Chevy Trailblazer north on US Highway 165 when he veered left of center, drove off the highway and collided with an embankment at Dan Gill Drive. Both Wilcox and his wife, Brenda, 59, were killed in the crash. Roads and weather conditions were clear at the time of the crash, 9:48 a.m.

A one-vehicle wreck on Arkansas Highway 51 in Hot Spring County left one person dead Monday, Dec. 22. Matthew Joseph Buffington, 40, of Malvern, was driving a 2021 Jeep Compass when he drove up an embankment, sending the vehicle airborne and striking two trees. Weather and road conditions were clear and dry at the time of the crash, 12:20 a.m.

Editor’s Note: Preliminary Arkansas State Police fatality reports sometimes contain information that turns out to be inaccurate. Typical errors include spelling errors in names, or incorrect ages; outdated hometown information; vehicle direction of travel; and incident times. The ASP sometimes corrects these errors in updated reports. ASP reports omit names of passengers or drivers who are not injured, even in instances when uninjured drivers may appear to be at fault. The reports also omit names of juveniles who were injured or killed, although we report those names when obtained through other sources.