A St. Martinville man was cited for a two-vehicle serious injury crash in Jefferson Davis Parish on Tuesday. 

According to a prepared statement from Louisiana State Police, Troop D responded at 12:45 p.m. to the intersection of U.S. 190 and Louisiana 26, 16 miles north of Jennings to the crash. The preliminary investigation revealed a 2012 Ford F650 straight truck driven by 42-year-old Timothy Ryan Vernon of St. Martinville, was traveling south on Louisiana 26. 

As Vernon entered the intersection, he struck the driver side of a 1994 Ford pickup truck that was traveling east and being driven by 21-year-old Shelby Bricyn Hawkins of Basile. The impact caused the driver of the F650 to run off the left side of the roadway and into a ditch. The Ford pickup truck ran off the left side of the road and rolled over onto its roof before coming to rest in a grassy area near the intersection of U.S. 90 and Louisiana 26.

Hawkins, who was seven months pregnant, was taken to Acadian Medical Center in Eunice with severe injuries along with a juvenile passenger who sustained minor injuries. Vernon sustained minor injuries and was transported to Jennings American Legion Hospital where he voluntarily submitted to a blood draw that was submitted to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab for analysis. Both drivers and the passenger were properly restrained.

On Thursday, Troop D was notified that Hawkins and her unborn child had died as a result of injuries sustained during the crash. A toxicology sample was obtained from her and submitted for analysis.

Vernon was cited for failure to yield to flashing signals. The crash remains under investigation and additional charges are possible.

While the exact cause of this crash remains under investigation, inattentive/distracted driving continues to be a leading factor in fatal crashes in our state. More information on distracted driving may be found online at www.distraction.gov.

Troop D has investigated 6 fatal crashes resulting in seven deaths in 2019.