Woman was reaching for food at time of fatal drunk driving crash: MSHP

WARRENTON, Mo. – A 22-year-old Wright City area woman remains jailed without bond for a drunk driving crash in rural Warren County that killed one man and serious injured another. The crash happened just before 11:30 p.m. on northbound County Farm Road, approximately a mile north of Pleasant Hill Road, according to a report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol. According to the MSHP’s probable cause statement, Madison E. Baxter was driving a 2012 Kia Optima when the vehicle traveled off the left side of the roadway and struck a tree. The front passenger was declared dead at the scene. He was 21. A passenger in the backseat was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital with serious injuries. Neither man was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, the highway patrol said. Baxter had her seatbelt on and suffered only moderate injuries. State troopers arrived at the crash scene and found Baxter being treated in the back of an ambulance. She admitted drinking prior to driving, the highway patrol said, and consented to a blood and breath test. Baxter’s preliminary breath test came back positive just after 12:10 a.m. She was taken to a local hospital for a blood draw to be tested by the MSHP’s Crime Lab. The results of the blood alcohol test are pending. Baxter told investigators she was distracted while reaching for food in the car, the highway patrol said. The Warren County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Baxter with DWI – serious physical injury and DWI – death of another. Baxter will appear in court on Tuesday, June 9 for a confined docket hearing.