A 25-year-old driver who was involved in a head-on wreck that killed two adults and a girl last week was passing in a no-passing zone and later told investigators he had had "a few" drinks, court records filed in the case show.
Justin Williams is facing three charges of negligent homicide and one count of first-degree battery after the crash involving his pickup and an SUV on Saturday in Sevier County.
Police said the collision happened on Arkansas 41 near Piney Road shortly after 4:20 p.m. According to a probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday in Sevier County Circuit Court, a trooper saw both vehicles had “catastrophic front end damage."
Three people in the SUV — Jessica Baig, 32, and Mirza Baig, 35, both of Horatio, and a girl whose age wasn't released — died at the scene, and another girl in that vehicle was injured, according to a preliminary crash report by state police. The affidavit said the girl's injuries were believed to be serious.
Williams was also listed as being hurt, though the report didn't detail the extent of his injuries.
According to the affidavit, Williams told the trooper he was driving north and trying to pass another vehicle in a no-passing zone when the crash happened, authorities said.
Corporal Mason Glasgow wrote in the affidavit that he could smell "an odor of intoxicants" on Williams’ breath.
"I asked Williams how much he had to drink and he replied 'a few,' but could not tell me exactly how much," Glasgow wrote.
A warrant for Williams’ arrest was issued on Tuesday.
Williams wasn’t being held in the Sevier County jail Wednesday morning, according to jail employees, and a call to the prosecuting attorney’s office wasn’t immediately returned.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Legacy Academy in Lockesburg identified Jessica Baig as an employee there and said the school’s family was “heartbroken by the tragic" deaths.
“She was loved by students and her co-workers alike,” the post reads. “Her kindness toward others knew no bounds.”