Child Dies From Wreck Injuries

— A 7-year-old girl died Tuesday of injuries suffered in a traffic accident.

Sarah Reagan Christians of Springdale was injured Sunday after a vehicle ran off Old Wire Road and struck a culvert, according to a fatal crash summary from Arkansas State Police. She was taken to Northwest Medical Center-Springdale then flown to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock where she died.

Reagan was a passenger in a 1998 Honda Accord driven by her mother, Claire E. Smith, 27, of Springdale, according to the summary. The car ran off the road into the ditch and hit a culvert north of Dodd Avenue.

The car overturned with Smith trapped behind the wheel, according to police dispatch records. Smith told police she had just finished talking on her cellphone, according to a news release from the Springdale Police Department.

Firefighters, responding to a call at 6:13 p.m., cut Smith from the vehicle and removed the child and a dog from the rear seat, according to a dispatch log.

Reagan was not properly secured in a child protective seat, according to the summary, and suffered head and internal injuries. She was a second-grader at Gene George Elementary School in Springdale.

The dog was taken to the Springdale Animal Shelter.

Smith received a ticket for careless driving and no child safety restraint, according to the release. The accident remains under investigation, said Ernest Cate, city attorney.

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