Crime & Safety
UPDATE: Police Say Kyra Hayes Was Wearing Her Seat Belt at Time of Fatal Crash
16-year-old Kyra Hayes died after she was ejected from the vehicle she was driving in St. Croix County.
ST. CROIX COUNTY -- St. Croix County Sheriff's officials released new information Friday afternoon, indicating that she was, in fact, wearing her seatbelt at the time of the tragic accident that resulted in her death.
Investigators Friday made public information retrieved from Hayes' vehicle, which indicated a latched seat belt at the time of the crash. Investigators also noted injuries consistent with seat belt usage on Hayes following the accident.
Earlier, St. Croix County officials reported that the fatal crash that killed Kyra Faith Hayes, 16, of Beldenville, Wis. involved her vehicle being forced off the road by a distracted driver.
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On Friday, Oct. 21 at approximately 3:21 p.m., the St. Croix County Sheriff's office responded to a single-vehicle crash in the 400 block of State Highway 35 in the Town of Troy.
A preliminary investigation by sheriff's deputies revealed that Hayes was driving a 2004 Oldsmobile Bravada was driving north on Highway 35 when the vehicle left the roadway on the median side and rolled over several times.
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St. Croix Sheriff's officials say a second vehicle, a 2007 Ford Taurus being driven by Makellia S. Jensen, 21, of Big Lake, MN was also driving northbound on Highway 35,.
According to St. Croix County sheriff's officials, Jensen had both hands on a cellular phone seconds before the crash. Jensen's vehicle reportedly drifted into the lane occupied by Hayes, causing Hayes to take evasive action, losing control, and resulting in her vehicle rolling over several times, sheriff's officials reported Monday.
UPDATE: Fatal afternoon crash closes Hwy. 35 north of River Fallshttps://t.co/jHfkN2AYxu
— River Falls Journal (@riverfallsj) October 21, 2016
According to Sheriff's reports, Hayes, was ejected. She was pronounced dead at the scene by the St. Croix County Medical Examiner.
Hayes was not wearing a seat belt. The crash remain under investigation by the St. Croix County Sheriff's Office and the Medical Examiner's office.
Friday's incident was the fifth traffic fatality of 2016 for the county.
The River Falls Fire Department and first responders, and the Wisconsin State Patrol assisted at the scene of today's accident.
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