PEARCY -- A Hot Springs teen was killed and a Pearcy woman injured in a two-vehicle head-on collision that occurred shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday in the 3200 block of Airport Road, according to a twice-revised Arkansas Department of Public Safety fatality report.
Ana Maria Terrazas, 19, of Hot Springs, driving a 2024 Honda Civic, was westbound in the inside lane of Airport Road when an eastbound 2018 Nissan Murano, driven by Raeko Deserae Barrow, 38, of Pearcy, who was also in the inside lane, reportedly drove left of center and crossed over the turning lane into the westbound lane, colliding head-on with Terrazas' vehicle.
Terrazas was pronounced dead at the scene while Barrow was transported by LifeNet to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs for treatment. The report notes conditions were clear and dry at the time of the wreck which was investigated by Arkansas State Police, who had responded to the scene along with 70 West Fire Department personnel.
The report, which was initially corrected as to the drivers' vehicles, was later removed entirely from the Arkansas Department of Public Safety website before being reposted shortly before 6 p.m. with corrected personal information.
Both westbound lanes were blocked and traffic was diverted to the eastbound lane while emergency services worked to extricate the victim from one of the vehicles.
It was the second fatality in Garland County in less than a week following a head-on collision around 3:15 p.m. Sunday on the King Expressway where one driver, Joe Spiva, 84, of Hot Springs, reportedly entered the expressway off Malvern Avenue going the wrong direction and collided with another vehicle.
The driver of the second vehicle, George Stoian, 54, also of Hot Springs, was injured.
Two other people have been killed within the past month in traffic-related incidents.
A Hot Springs woman died from injuries she received in a one-vehicle wreck early March 21 at the intersection of Central and Grand avenues, after she reportedly struck a utility pole and the wall of a nearby church, closing the roadway for several hours.
Deborah Diane Jones, 56, of Hot Springs, was the driver and sole occupant of a 2023 Hyundai Elantra traveling northbound on Central Avenue shortly before 6:30 a.m. when she left the roadway at its intersection with West Grand, according to an Arkansas Department of Public Safety fatality report.
An Arizona woman, Diane Zimmerman, 63, later died from injuries she received around 7:30 p.m. on March 8 when she was struck while running across Airport Road in the 1200 block. She was transported to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs where she was pronounced dead a short time later.