A 28-year-old woman from Abbeville, Louisiana, was killed shortly after midnight on Saturday, October 31, when the car she was driving was struck from behind at a stop sign near Duson, according to a Louisiana State Police Troop I news release published on November 1.
Source: Louisiana State Police Troop I news release
Troopers with Troop I responded shortly after 12:00 a.m. to a two-vehicle crash on Louisiana Highway 343 near Ridge Road in Lafayette Parish. The release, issued from Duson, said the crash claimed the life of the 28-year-old Abbeville woman. State Police did not name her in the release.
Source: Louisiana State Police Troop I news release
Slowing for the stop sign, struck from behind
The preliminary investigation found that a 2014 Kia Optima was travelling south on Highway 343 and was slowing for the stop sign at Ridge Road. Behind it, also travelling south on Highway 343, was a 2011 Buick LaCrosse driven by Shawnta Davis-Ned, 40, of Rayne. For reasons still under investigation, the Buick failed to slow down and struck the rear of the Kia, troopers said.
The driver of the Kia was unrestrained. She sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene. Davis-Ned was also unrestrained, troopers said, and reported no injuries. A routine toxicology sample was obtained from the driver of the Kia and submitted for analysis — a standard step in a fatal-crash investigation, the release noted in describing the procedure.
A breath sample over the limit, and four booking charges
As a result of the on-scene investigation, Davis-Ned provided a breath sample, which revealed a blood alcohol concentration over the legal limit, State Police said. Troopers did not release the exact reading. She was arrested and booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center for vehicular homicide, driving while impaired (1st offense), careless operation, and no seatbelt.
The charges are allegations based on the troopers' preliminary investigation. Davis-Ned is presumed innocent unless and until she is proven guilty in court. The crash remains under investigation, State Police said, including the question of why the Buick did not slow down behind a car that was stopping at a marked stop sign.
A breath sample over the legal limit is the evidence troopers cited for the impaired-driving and vehicular-homicide bookings. It is not a conviction: the toxicology analysis, the crash reconstruction and the court process in Lafayette Parish will decide what the evidence proves. State Police have not released the exact blood alcohol figure.
Two drivers, neither wearing a seatbelt
One detail in the Troop I release stands out: neither driver was wearing a seatbelt. The Kia's driver died at the scene; the Buick's driver, in a rear-end collision she is accused of causing, walked away without reported injuries. Troopers charged the no-seatbelt offence alongside the more serious counts — a reminder that on rural highways like Highway 343, a two-lane road through the Duson area west of Lafayette, the simplest safety device is also the one most often skipped on short night drives.
In the release, Louisiana State Police reminded motorists that “if you feel different, you drive different,” saying alcohol, prescription drugs and other drugs can impair visual ability, decrease reaction times and impair fine motor skills, and encouraging motorists to plan ahead and designate a sober driver. “Not doing so can have deadly consequences,” the agency said.
Source: Louisiana State Police Troop I news release
What happens next
The Troop I investigation continues, and the routine toxicology analysis is pending. Davis-Ned now faces the court process in Lafayette Parish on the vehicular-homicide, impaired-driving, careless-operation and seatbelt charges. Troop I's public affairs contact is Trooper Monique Lavergne, at (337) 262-5880.
State Police have not released the name of the woman who died. Awaaz Punjab will update this story when authorities release her name, the toxicology findings, or the first court date in the case.