Death of Alexander County sheriff's mother-in-law called 'tragic vehicular accident'
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
By Peg McNichol ~ Southeast Missourian
CAIRO, Ill. - The Alexander County Sheriff Department called the death of Sheriff David Barkett's mother-in-law "a tragic vehicular accident" in a news release Wednesday afternoon.
The woman had Alzheimer's Disease, according to a brief statement issued by Chief Deputy Stephen W. Thomas Wednesday afternoon. The statement said the woman lived next door to her son-in-law.
Barkett was responding to a domestic violence call in his squad car at approximatly 1:25 a.m. Wednesday and was backing out of the driveway of his Cairo home when he struck Mary Elizabeth Burnley, 87, according to the Illinois State Police. A state police team is investigating the incident, according to Trooper Bridget Rice, who said Burnley had been on foot and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Barkett called the Cairo Police Department after the incident and Cairo police called state police investigators. The Alexander County Sheriff Department was not called to the scene, according to an unidentified sheriff department employee; Barkett is not currently on duty, although he was at the time of the incident.
Rice said no charges had been filed against Barkett and it was not certain any would be; she said she did not know what charges might apply in such a case but that if he was charged with anything, he would be presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
She said the team of state investigators includes a crash reconstruction specialist and that the team handles investigating "99.9 percent of fatal crashes in the region."
pmcnichol@semissourian.com
388-3646
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please
Login or
Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on semissourian.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
Marketplace![[SeMissourian.com]](http://www.semissourian.com/images/nameplate.gif)
RSS
Print
Email link
Respond to editor
Read comments (8)
Share link
del.icio.us
Digg
StumbleUpon
Technorati
Newsvine
Facebook
Furl
Reddit
Google
And why would an 87-year-old be out at 1:30 in the morning??
Ask about the time Barkett was serving as Coroner, and he was responding to "potential grave robbers" Aka...Farmers who had parked their tractors near a cemetery. This was a "big emergency" to him.
I think it's sad that someone would post such comments before the full story came out. No matter what your personal opinion of Mr. Barkett is,out of respect for the rest of the family it would have been nice if you wouldn't have been so judgmental until you knew the rest of the story. Mr. Barkett has cared for his parents and inlaws for many years. This is tragic enough for any family to deal with, but for others to use a time like this to air their dislike is sickening.
Meg....The woman had Alzheimer's Disease, didn't u read that? Really..I'm ashamed of u!
Yeah Meg, find out what Alziemer's can do to the elderly...it is called "sundowning."I have worked with elderly for yrs and have known of Alziemer's patients doing things like this. Maybe you should read up on these things before you go say such harsh things about a poor old woman that could not help what she was doing. This is one of those instances...think before you speak!!
Turnip and all, IF you have any clue about how this article has evolved, orginally when I "posted" It didn't give any details other than he hit his mother-in-law. Maybe you should mind your own business before questioning my intentions. I have full awareness of the situation since about two hours after it's occurance. Now...BUG OFF!
I know David Barkett and his family, and was at one time a neighbor. He has handled the funeral arrangements for many of my family members. I have never known him to be anything but kind and caring. I have thought all day about the pain he and his family must be feeling and just hope that they are getting the comfort and support they have provided to so many others.
The mean spirited comments sicken me, and make me wonder what makes a person so bitter that they rush to post not one, but two totally negative and ignorant comments. Whatever your personal issues are with David Barkett, if you even have any, try to have a little compassion in light of these very tragic circumstances. You are in my prayers along with the Barkett family.
I have known Sheriff Barkett for many years, decades even. We live on the same block and he buried my mother. He is a consummate professional as a Funeral Director and he was a consummate professional throughout his sixteen years as Coroner. My prayers have been with him and his family through this terrible situation.
Ironically, my dad died within minutes of this accident. Completely unrelated, though, as he was in a hospital in Oklahoma...