Woman killed in Tuesday tree-trimming accident in Sikeston identified

SIKESTON, Mo. The name of a woman killed while cleaning up limbs in a Tuesday afternoon accident in Sikeston has been released.

Diane Phelps, 44, of Newburg, Mo., was pronounced dead in the emergency room of Missouri Delta Medical Center by Dr. Brad Angelos, according to James Donner, Scott County deputy coroner.

According to reports, Phelps was holding a ladder for her boyfriend, James Curtis, 39, of Sikeston, while the two helped pick up debris from the ice storm at a residence at 417 Broadway. While Curtis was sawing tree limbs, the chain saw kicked back, said Donner, throwing Curtis to the ground.

The limb Curtis was cutting, which was about 8 inches in diameter and 20 feet long, then fell, striking Phelps in the head and pinning her to the ground.

Curtis was taken by air ambulance to Saint Francis Medical Center. There was no word on his conditio