Eighteen-year-old Mississippi State University freshman Kaleb Dwayne Barker, of Lucedale, was killed as a result of multiple blunt crush injuries Tuesday after he was thrown from the bed of a pickup truck and then struck by the vehicle, according to the Starkville Police Department.
Investigators, including the state chief medical examiner, ended their investigation Wednesday after an autopsy was completed in Jackson.
SPD confirmed the five occupants in the 2003 Chevrolet Silverado were all acquaintances. The SPD press release said Barker was fatally injured about 2 a.m. Tuesday after the truck, while backing up on the McDonald’s (Miss. Highway 12 and Spring Street location) parking lot, hit a curb and threw him from its bed. Barker was then subsequently run over by the truck as it continued in motion, jumping the curb and coming to rest in the lower level parking lot of Cold Stone Creamery, according to the release.
Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt said Tuesday Barker died about five hours later as he was being airlifted to University Medical Center in Jackson.
Three of the truck’s occupants were sitting inside of the vehicle at the time of the accident. Another, Halli Camille Reasons, of Dyersburg, Tenn., was in the truck’s bed along with Barker. She was also injured in the incident but was released that same day from OCH Regional Medical Center.
The driver of the 2003 Chevrolet Silverado, Sawyer Tomas Steede, 18, of Lucedale, was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated DUI. He was released on a $50,000 bond.
Barker, Reasons and Steede, all freshmen at MSU, lived at Rice Hall, MSU confirmed Tuesday. Barker and Steede were roommates.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.