A 28-year-old man from West Plains is dead of injuries suffered in a traffic crash at 4:40 a.m. Saturday on ZZ Highway eight miles east of West Plains, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Brian E. Powell, 28, was a passenger in an eastbound 2014 Jeep Cherokee that lost control, ran off the road on a curve, struck three fences and rolled into a field, reported Cpl. J.D. Wheeler with Troop G of the patrol, Willow Springs. Powell reportedly did not wear a seat belt.
The Jeep’s driver, Taylor L. Hamby, and two other passengers, Dakota M. Weet, 18, and Calvin J. Brashers, 18, all of West Plains, suffered moderate injuries, the report shows. Of the vehicle’s occupants, the patrol reported, only Weet wore a seat belt, and he was taken by private vehicle to Ozarks Healthcare in West Plains for treatment. Hamby and Brashers were taken by South Howell County Ambulance to the same facility, the report shows.
Deputy Howell County Coroner Michael Pauly pronounced Powell dead at 5:25 a.m.
The death makes the 40th traffic fatality counted in the nine-county Troop G area in 2023, compared to 31 in the same time Fram last year.
Wheeler was assisted at the scene by Msgt. S.L. Nelson, Tpr. T.M. Broyles, Crash Team Sgt. S.R. Richardson, Howell Rural Fire Department and South Howell County Ambulance.
