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Ms. Higgins, a 26-year-old Mount Zion woman, was involved in a
two-vehicle accident Jan. 14 on Illinois Route 121 at the south edge
of Mount Pulaski. The accident happened around 8:05 a.m. Higgins was
the driver of a 2008 Honda Civic. She was pronounced deceased at the
scene by Logan County Paramedics at 8:40 a.m. Coroner Robert
Thomas conducted the inquest with eight jurors present. Illinois
State Police Trooper Price, an accident reconstruction officer, gave
testimony about the crash. Testimony revealed that Higgins was
traveling west on Route 121 when she lost control of her vehicle and
slid into the oncoming traffic in the eastbound lane. There she was
struck by a semi, sending her car into the shoulder and ditch area
of the eastbound lane. The highway was snow-covered at the time of
the accident.
Deputy Coroner Doug Brooks gave testimony about the autopsy
findings. Jessica H. Bowman, M.D, performed the autopsy, and her
findings were that the cause of death was "blunt force injury to the
head."
The jurors, after deliberation, returned with a verdict of
"accidental death" as the manner of death. The jurors' choices by
state statute were accidental, homicide, natural causes, suicide or
undetermined.
[Text from file received from the
Logan County coroner's office] |
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