State road crashes kill 3 people

Three people were killed and several injured in crashes on Arkansas roads Thursday, according to Arkansas State Police accident reports.

A 10-year-old girl died in a three-vehicle crash just after 5 p.m. Thursday on U.S. 63 in rural Lawrence County.

When the accident occurred, Matthew Simmons, 36, of Walnut Ridge was driving south in a 2009 Nissan Maxima, moving into the outer right lane to pass a 2010 GMC driven by Eddie Hampton, 37, also of Walnut Ridge.

As Simmons merged back into the left lane in front of the GMC, the Maxima’s left rear struck the right front of the GMC. Simmons’ car slid into the middle turn lane and was struck in the right rear by the front of a 2000 Dodge Durango in the middle lane.

The crash killed the 10-year-old who was a passenger in the Maxima, and injured Simmons and other passengers 31-year-old Nickie Ivy and an unidentified 11-year-old. Hampton was also injured.

Maggie McCormick, 81, of Perryville was killed at 6:30 p.m. Thursday on Arkansas 60 in the unincorporated community of Toad Suck in Perry County when a truck hit the car she was in.

The driver of the 2002 Crown Victoria, who is not named in the report, was turning into the parking lot of a gas station and crossed into the path of a 2003 Dodge Ram driven by Christopher Rutherford, 32, of Houston, a small town in northern Perry County.

Another passenger in the Crown Victoria, 36-year-old Cory Brockinton of Perryville was injured, as was Rutherford and his passenger, 50-year-old Clifton Pope of Conway.

Joseph Cusick, 49, of Heber Springs was killed just before 11 p.m. Thursday on Arkansas 89 near Cabot when his 2009 Honda Accord veered off the road and struck a tree. Cusick was pulled from his car as it began to catch fire and was pronounced dead on the scene.