The driver of a tractor trailer is facing a charge of intoxication manslaughter after a fatal crash in Wylie Wednesday morning.
Shortly before 11 a.m., a major crash was reported on the 400 block of state Highway 78 and West Kirby Street.
"The first thing I heard was all the screeching of the tires as the driver tried to stop and the Diesel and then all the sudden everything just rattled and you heard a really loud boom," said Gary Peters who witnessed the accident.
Police said the driver of a sedan pulled in front of a fully-loaded dump truck and was struck on it's side.
Peters said he rushed to help. "I had to call my wife because I started crying and stuff because I've never been sitting there holding somebody or seen somebody die," Peters said.
The doors to the four-door Nissan sedan were locked, and Peters grabbed a sledge hammer and shattered the window to get to the couple inside.
The passenger in the sedan, 83-year-old Jonel Brown McGehee, was killed. The male driver of the car, 77-year-old Dannie Jackson, was injured and transported to Medical Center Plano in an unknown condition.
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While investigating the crash officers reported finding what appeared to be a small bottle of vodka on the driver, 67-year-old Alton Batts.
Batts was placed under arrest and charged with intoxication manslaughter, a second-degree felony, police said.
The crash remains under investigation.
