Ball State University freshman Travis J. Smith died after a traffic accident at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday on Riverside Avenue, Muncie Police Sgt. Brad Arey said.
Smith was sitting in the front passenger seat of a silver Toyota Solara, which belonged to a friend, with students Todd Lamkin and Ethan Whaley, Arey said. Smith had just finished hitting golf balls, and the men were headed to pick up a friend and watch Smith's friend Greg Oden, an Ohio State University basketball player, in a game on TV, Smith's uncle Mark Dooley said.
Smith was rushed from the accident scene to the hospital and pronounced dead later that night, Arey said.
Whaley and Lamkin were treated and released from the Ball Memorial Hospital emergency room Saturday night, hospital spokesman Neil Gifford said.
Whaley was taken to the hospital for facial injuries, Arey said. Lamkin appeared to have only minor injuries, he said.
There was a smell of alcohol on Lamkin, 21, the driver, but police do not know if he was over the blood alcohol content limit or not, Arey said. The state police are conducting the blood alcohol tests and it will take two to three weeks to receive results, he said.
Once released, the test results will be sent to the Delaware County prosecutors office, Arey said. They will then decide to press charges or not, he said.
Dooley said while he did not know how Lamkin's blood-alcohol-level, he was not legally drunk. Also, Smith and Whaley had not drank anything, he said.
The driver and backseat passenger both appeared to have been wearing seat belts but Smith was not, Arey said.
"The driver had markings from the belt on his body after the accident," Arey said. "That might be related. The seat belt could have saved [Smith's] life."
Air bags deployed in both vehicles, he said.
Lamkin was driving west on Riverside Avenue by Reserve Street when he hit a curb, causing him to swerve into oncoming traffic, Arey said. Lamkin hit a blue Chrysler Pacifica in the opposite lane, causing the Toyota to spin around 180 degrees, Arey said.
"It sounded like an explosion had happened," nearby resident and witness Morgan Barry said. "I ran out and one of the cars was spun around. The front was completely demolished. It was the worst thing I've ever seen."
Soon after the accident, 10 to 15 police vehicles arrived at the scene and blocked off traffic, Barry said.
The driver of the Pacifica was 55-year-old Krystyna Johnstone and her 25-year-old daughter Halynkna Johnstone, Arey said. Krystyna Johnstone appeared to have a neck injury, but her daughter had only minor injuries, he said.
The Toyota was going faster than the 30 mph speed limit, but whether or not the speed was a key factor is still under investigation, Arey said.
"We're reconstructing the accident by taking measurements where the vehicles are kept at," he said. "We can get a ballpark idea of how fast the vehicle was going, but it's not an exact measurement."
The only damage to residential property near the accident was a small patch of grass that was ruined, Barry said.
Smith was a member of the Ball State men's golf team.
"We are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the death of Travis Smith," Ball State Athletics Director Tom Collins said in a press release. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the members of our Ball State golf program during this difficult time."
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