A tragic accident on Interstate 30 resulted in the deaths of a woman and two children, caused by Richard Gabriel Lopez.
Lopez, a 43-year-old man from San Antonio, was charged with driving in the wrong lane and causing the accident. He had been a patient at Wadley Regional Medical Center since the night of the accident, but was discharged on Saturday and immediately taken into custody by the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office.
The Arkansas State Police had issued a warrant for his arrest on three counts of negligent homicide and two counts of first-degree battery.
Lopez waived extradition and was transferred to the Miller County Detention Center. The accident occurred when Lopez’s eastbound 2015 Ford Mustang collided with a 2017 Kia Optima driven by Takeyah Latin in the westbound lane. The investigation is ongoing.
A tragic accident claimed the lives of JaBrea Conway, 24, and a male infant who were passengers in a vehicle that crashed.
The accident also left a 4-year-old girl seriously injured, who later passed away at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Two other women in the vehicle were also seriously injured. The group was reportedly on their way to celebrate a child’s birthday at Chuck-E-Cheese when the accident occurred.
The driver of the other vehicle involved, identified as Lopez, was reportedly impaired and refused to give his name at the scene. Lopez’s girlfriend stated that he took over driving their Mustang at a gas station before the accident occurred. Lopez is currently awaiting his first court hearing and will be arraigned.