November 12, 2015 - A vehicle/pedestrian incident occurred on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 on State Highway 7 East in Moodyville resulting in the death of one.
A Shelby County Sheriff's Deputy was en-route to a single-vehicle crash sometime before 6:30pm located in James Community when he was traveling through Moodyville and witnessed the incident occur 4.9 miles east of Center.
According to Texas Department of Public Safety State Troopers Keith Jones and Taylor Buster, at 6:30pm Demario Howard, 24, of Mansfield, LA. and Kadeshia Simone Barfield, 19, of Mansfield, LA. were in the middle of the eastbound lane on State highway 7 East when they were struck by a white 2010 Ford Fusion driven by Mitzi Rhey Baker-Kennedy, 47, of Joaquin.
Howard was transported by ACE EMS to Nacogdoches Medical Center - Center Emergency Department for treatment of his injuries. Barfield was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:05pm by Maxie Eaves, Justice of the Peace Precinct 1, and was transported by Watson & Sons Funeral Home. Kennedy was not reported to have received injuries resulting from the crash. Howard was treated and released from the hospital with non-incapacitating injuries.
Previous to the incident, Barfield and Howard were traveling with several other individuals in a white passenger van from Tyson Foods, when the van broke down. Another vehicle positioned itself in front of the van on the shoulder to provide lighting so someone could get the van running. The headlights from the car did prove to cause visual impairment for drivers traveling east. Witnesses at the scene stated Barfield had been arguing with another individual in the roadway when Howard was attempting to break up the fight to get Barfield out of the road and both were struck by the Fusion. The third individual was not reported to have been injured.
Sheriff Willis Blackwell had been at the scene earlier when the van was being worked on and stated he had instructed the people at the vehicle to get away from the roadway.
Authorities with the Shelby County Sheriff's Department; Jamie Hagler, Constable Precinct 2; and the Center Fire Department arrived at the scene to assist in the investigation and with traffic control. Traffic was brought to a standstill while the investigation was underway.
The crash remains under investigation at this time.
