A 3-year-old Lake Providence toddler, who was not properly restrained, was fatally injured in a two-vehicle crash on LA Hwy 877 in East Carroll Parish on Tuesday. Trooper Ryan Davis says Tavorious Hopkins was not secured in a child’s car seat.
“The child was placed in a forward-facing car seat. In Pearl Louisiana, passenger safety laws he’s required to be restrained with four or five-point harnesses but he was only restrained with a seat belt.”
Hopkins and his mother were passengers in the backseat of a Dodge Caravan driven by 55-year-old John Vaughn Jr. For unknown reasons, Davis says Vaughn failed to brake at a stop sign and was struck by a Freightliner towing a grain trailer headed east on La. Hwy. 580.
“Both drivers reported minor injuries. The child’s mother who was also a passenger in the Caravan, she minor to moderate injuries.”
Authorities do not believe impairment was a factor. The investigation is ongoing.
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