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Pedestrian Killed Hours After Release From Siloam Hospital

An Oklahoma woman was killed in Siloam Springs last week when she was struck by a car while crossing a dark highway at night, hours after being released from th...

An Oklahoma woman was killed in Siloam Springs last week when she was struck by a car while crossing a dark highway at night, hours after being released from the emergency room.

Belinda E. Holley, of Colcord, Okla., died from her injuries sustained in the crash after being transported to Siloam Springs Regional Hospital.

Police said Holley walked into the Short Stop Corner convenience store near Arkansas State Highway 43 at about 9:30 p.m. on March 28. While slurring her speech, Holley used an employee’s cell phone to call someone in Oklahoma, before returning the phone and stepping outside of the store, according to a state crash report.

The employee told police Holley seemed upset and started heading west on-foot on Highway 43.

At the same time, Sondra Wright, of Colcord, told officers she was driving west on the highway when she struck Holley with her front passenger-side bumper, near the New Life Church. Wright told police she did not see Holley until she had already hit her, the crash report states.

Wright was uninjured in the crash, and showed no alcohol present in a breathalyzer test, according to the report. She was traveling under the posted speed limit of 50 miles per hour, the report states.

Several witnesses said they saw Holley crossing the highway moments before the collision. Police found no signs of hard braking or erratic driving. The area of the crash was dark and did not have street lights or a crosswalk, police said.

Authorities are waiting for the results of a toxicology test on Holley, according to the crash report.

Holley’s son told detectives she was in the Siloam Springs hospital emergency room earlier in the day. She left the hospital intoxicated on Xanax, so the son went looking for Holley, he told police.

The son told police Holley called him and asked to be picked up from the convenience store. He was on the way to pick his mother up, when he saw the emergency crews and flashing lights at the scene of the crash, the report states.

Wright’s Chevrolet Malibu sustained significant damage and had to be towed away, according to the crash report.

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