A Fort Smith woman who was a retired GATE teacher for the Fort Smith School District and the current director of After School Care at St. Boniface Catholic Church died from injuries she sustained in a three-vehicle incident Thursday morning at the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 71 and Brooken Hill Drive in south Fort Smith.
The accident occurred in front of the McDonald’s restaurant on the southeast corner of the intersection.
Fort Smith police reported that just after 11 a.m. on Friday that Janet Kessler, 62, was driving a 2014 Chevrolet Cruze east on Brooken Hill and was struck by a 2006 Toyota Tacoma that entered the intersection on a red light. The Kessler vehicle pulled into the path of the oncoming Toyota and was hit on the driver’s side.
The Cruze then rotated in the roadway and hit a light pole before striking a 2015 Hyundai that was stopped in the northbound turning lane of U.S. 71.
Weather conditions were clear and the roadway was dry according to the ASP preliminary report.
Kessler was taken to at Mercy Hospital where she was pronounced dead. The names of the other two drivers have not been released.
