1 fatality from February among 3 traffic deaths

Two people died in highway crashes this week and a third person died Sunday from injuries received in a crash last month, according to Arkansas State Police reports.

A 57-year-old woman was killed Wednesday morning when the car she was driving veered off a state highway and struck a tree, authorities said.

Deronda Predeau Wallis of Jonesboro was driving south in a 2014 Ford Focus about 6:15 a.m. when the vehicle left Arkansas 135 near Unity Road in Paragould,

according to a state police report.

The Focus struck a tree, and Wallis suffered fatal injuries, police said.

Conditions were said to be clear and dry at the time of the wreck.

A 42-year-old Texas man was killed when his vehicle ran off Interstate 40 in Pope County and landed on its top, authorities said.

Shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday, James Willie Register, 42, of Gatesville, Texas, was driving a 2007 GMC west on the highway near mile marker 78, which is just west of Russellville, state police wrote in the report.

The agency said the GMC veered off the right-hand side of the interstate before going “airborne” and landing on its top.

Register suffered fatal injuries. No one else was listed as being hurt.

The report didn’t indicate what might have caused the vehicle to leave the highway. Conditions at the time were said to be windy and dry.

A 71-year-old man died Sunday, a week after he was involved in a single-vehicle wreck on a state highway in February, authorities said.

The crash took place near Stagecoach Road in Sheridan, as Jimmy Coker of Redfield was driving east on Arkansas 46 on Feb. 25, according to a state police report.

Coker, who was driving a 2005 Chevrolet Corvette, overcorrected while going through a right-hand curve about 3:15 p.m. and struck a tree, the report states.

He suffered fatal injuries. No other vehicles were involved, police said.