A Leflore County minister's wife was killed by an apparent drunken driver in a car crash early Monday morning on Interstate 57 near Champaign, Ill.
Martha Payne, 55, was pronounced dead at the scene after the vehicle in which she was a passenger was hit head-on by 22-year-old Kristen Roseberry of Champaign, Ill., law enforcement officials told the Champaign News-Gazette.
According to the newspaper, officials said Roseberry was driving under the influence of alcohol.
Roseberry was traveling north in the southbound lanes of I-57 at Pesotum, Ill., about 15 miles south of Champaign, when her vehicle hit the van in which Payne was traveling. The crash occurred at 2:16 a.m.
The van was driven by Payne's husband, the Rev. Jessie Payne, 57, of Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Greenwood.
Other passengers in the van were Scherrie Payne, 26, of Ridgeland, daughter of Jessie and Martha Payne; Ladonna Jefferson, 33, of Itta Bena, daughter of Martha Payne; and Jefferson's daughter, Tiara Payne, 12.
Jefferson was taken to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Ill.
The minister, Scherrie Payne and Tiara Payne were not hospitalized. They returned to Itta Bena Tuesday night.
Edward Course, a deacon at Providence Missionary Baptist and a friend of the family, said the group was returning from a family reunion in Minnesota when the fatal crash occurred.
He said Jefferson, who remains hospitalized in Illinois, suffered a broken leg and arm as well as some facial lacerations.
The News-Gazette said Roseberry also had a broken arm.
According to the Illinois newspaper, Roseberry was arrested Monday morning, and charged Tuesday in Champaign County Circuit Court in Urbana with reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol.
Some other traffic charges were made against Roseberry in addition to the two criminal charges. Bond was set at $100,000, and Roseberry was released on bond shortly after her court appearance.
Mick McAvoy, a prosecuting attorney for the state of Illinois, told the News-Gazette that Roseberry's blood alcohol level at the scene was .254 - roughly three times the .08 blood alcohol level required by the state for a person to be presumed intoxicated.
Roseberry's pre-trial hearing is set for Aug. 25, 2004. She could face up to 14 years if convicted.
Course said Martha Payne was a remarkable and fun person who will be greatly missed by her friends, family and church.
"We would laugh and talk and just have a lot of fun together," Course said. "She took care of her family and she was very concerned about the church."
Course said Mrs. Payne liked to tease him and her husband when they started playing golf together. She began calling Course "Tiger," and her husband "Tiger Jr."
"She was always so much fun," Course said. "She smiled a lot, even if she was ill, and she was just a barrel of laughs."
Course also said no matter what the situation, Martha Payne was always genuine and caring.
"Whatever she could do for the church, she did," Course said. "And she could get along with everybody."
Sanders & Sanders Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
