Vehicle crashes on highways in South Arkansas left two people dead in recent days.
Early Sunday morning in rural Howard County, Joe Walter Baker Jr., 44, of Little River, was traveling eastbound on Arkansas Highway 27 in a 2017 Chevy Tahoe when, near the intersection with Shiloh Road, he failed to negotiate a right-hand curve, left the roadway and struck several trees. The SUV then overturned.
The crash happened at 1:25 a.m. Sunday, April 12, under clear skies and on dry roads, according to investigating State Trooper Zane Butler.
Baker’s body was taken to the Howard County Coroner’s Office.
A Hot Springs man was killed in eastern Arkansas on Friday evening, April 10.
Rodney Edgin, 60, was driving a 2012 Harley-Davidson motorcycle westbound on Arkansas Highway 54 in Pine Bluff. While attempting to negotiate a curve near the Wallace Road intersection, Edgin crossed the center line and drove into a roadside ditch, causing the vehicle to overturn. Edgin died in the crash.
The weather was clear and the roads were dry at the time of the accident, 7:20 p.m., according to Cpl. Marlon Briggs of the Arkansas State Police.
Edgin’s body was taken to the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office.
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 Typical errors include spelling errors in names, or incorrect ages; outdated hometown information; vehicle direction of travel; and incident times.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.