Police release more details about fatal Monday Highway 74 crash

Cape Girardeau police released more details this afternoon about why a 7-year-old Jackson girl wasn't wearing her seatbelt before she was killed in a Monday evening crash and why a vehicle was parked along the side of Highway 74, causing the crash.

The wreck occurred around 5 p.m. Monday on Highway 74 about a tenth of a mile west of the intersection at Minnesota Avenue, when a minivan struck a vehicle parked on the side of the road.

Hailey Dacus, 7, of Jackson, who had been riding in the passenger seat, died an hour later of injuries sustained in the crash, according to Sgt. Jason Selzer, spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Police Department. She wasn't wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

Victoria Dacus, 25, of Jackson, was driving the minivan when it struck a Hummer vehicle parked near the median of Highway 74, Selzer said.

Two of children, Caleb Dacus, 10, and Quinton, 6, both of Jackson, were in the backseat of the minivan, Selzer said.

All were treated at the hospital for non-life threatening injuries, Selzer said.

The Hummer the minivan struck was unoccupied at the time of the crash, contradicting early reports. 

The owner of the Hummer, Shelton Hempstead Jr., of Cape Girardeau, had left it because it had run out of gas.

All three children in the minivan were buckled up at the beginning of the ride, but the two boys in the backseat had taken off their seat belts during the drive, Selzer said.

Hailey Dacus took off her seat belt to turn around and tell her brothers to buckle up, Selzer said.

She was attempting to re-buckle her seat belt when the crash occurred, Selzer said.