Funeral services are pending for 17-year-old Rachel Barnett of Coushatta at Rocket-Nettles Funeral Home. She was killed by an impaired driver on Wednesday afternoon. The photo is of Barnett and Lacy Ross (on the left) who was injured from the Hickory Grove Baptist Church Facebook page.
The church posted on Thursday “Please pray for everyone concerned with the tragic death of the teenager yesterday, including the driver and his family. So many lives ‘messed up’ in an instant.”
Here is the release from State Police in Shreveport”
On July 26, 2017, at 5:42 p.m., Louisiana State Police Troop G responded to crash involving a vehicle and two pedestrians on Louisiana Highway 784 just east of US Highway 71 that claimed the life of a Coushatta teenager.
The preliminary investigation revealed that 19-year-old Lacy Ross and 17-year-old Rachel Barnette of Coushatta were walking on the side of LA 784, when they were struck by a westbound 2002 Buick Century operated by 47-year-old Kenneth Morse of Coushatta.
Ross sustained minor injuries from the collision and was transported to University Health Shreveport for treatment. Barnette sustained fatal injuries from the collision and was pronounced dead at the scene by the Red River Parish Coroner.
Morse was not injured in the crash and but was impaired at the time of the crash. At the completion of the on-scene investigation, Morse was transported to the Red River Parish Jail and booked for vehicular negligent injuring, vehicular homicide, open container, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Impairment is a factor in this crash. Toxicology samples were obtained and will be submitted for analysis. This crash remains under investigation.
Each year, on Louisiana’s highways, numerous people are killed or seriously injured in automobile crashes that involve impaired drivers. In 2016, 52% of the fatal crashes in the Troop G area involved impaired drivers. Motorists are asked to designate a sober driver any time alcohol is consumed.
To report impaired drivers, motorists are encouraged to dial *LSP (*577) from their cellular phone or to contact their local law enforcement agency.
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