Harrisburg, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — June 30, 2025 — A Pocahontas man is charged with negligent homicide in connection with an accident on Interstate-555 near Trumann that claimed the lives of two Paragould residents.
According to a fatal crash report from the Arkansas Department of Public Safety, Tyler Slayton, 36, and Jacob Ward, 31, both of Paragould, were killed Thursday, June 24, when they were struck by another vehicle while repairing a rear driver-side flat tire on a 2010 Ford Fusion. The vehicle was parked on the side of Interstate-555 near mile marker 23 near Trumann. The accident happened around 7:20 p.m.
Arkansas State Police arrested 25-year-old Taylor David Rhoades of Pocahontas on charges of negligent homicide, DWI (drugs), careless or prohibited driving and leaving the scene of an accident with personal injuries. Police believe Rhoads was driving a 2010 Ford Focus northbound on Interstate 555 and struck the Ford Fusion on the road shoulder, and the accident caused Slayton and Ward’s deaths.
Poinsett County Sheriff Kevin Molder said his department’s night shift sergeant was patrolling Thursday night when he noticed the Ford Focus with considerable damage to its body. The sergeant initiated a traffic stop to check out the damage. During his examination of the vehicle, he found evidence that the vehicle had hit a person(s).
“When the sergeant saw the evidence suggesting the vehicle had hit someone, he sent other deputies to check Interstate-555,” Molder said. “That’s when the bodies were discovered. There were no witnesses to the incident on the highway.”
Molder said no one knew the two men had been hit until his sergeant found the evidence on the vehicle.
Rhoades appeared before District Judge Ron Hunter for a probable cause hearing Monday. Hunter set Rhoades’s bond at $100,000. He is being held in the Poinsett County Detention Center in Harrisburg.
