Motorcycle Accident Kills Fort Smith Man A Fort Smith man died Saturday following an early morning motorcycle accident. Ronald Jason Baxter, 21, died at about 7:10 a.m. after an accident on Leigh Avenue between Cliff Drive and Interestate 540, said Sebastian County Coroner A.J. Parrish. "It seems like he lost control of his motorcycle," said Parrish. He said Baxter was pronounced dead on the scene. Sergeant Calvin Treat of the Fort Smith Police Department said a witness told police he was driving south on Leigh Avenue when he came around a curb and saw something rolling up ahead. The witness told police he found Baxter in a ditch and his motorcycle nearby, said Treat. Treat said no one else was injured in the accident. Parrish said it had not been determined if drugs or alcohol were factors in the accident. He said blood samples from Baxter had been sent to the state Crime Lab in Little Rock for analysis.
RONALD BAXTER Ronald Jason Baxter, 21, of Fort Smith died Saturday, March 24, in Fort Smith. He was a 1998 graduate of Southside High School and was employed by Gregorio’s Pizza. He was a Baptist. Funeral will be 10 a.m. Tuesday in Oak Cliff Baptist Church with burial at New Hope Cemetery in Spiro, under the direction of Putman Funeral Home of Fort Smith. He is survived by his girlfriend, Lacy Robertson of Fort Smith; his mother, Karen Hamm of Fort Smith; his father, Ronald Baxter of Spiro; his stepfather, Gary Foster of Pocola; his maternal grandparents, Alice Lorene Berd and Fred and Lillie Carter, all of Spiro; his paternal grandmother, Vina Gray of Quinton, Okla.; his great-grandmother, Nora Lee Childress of Boise, Idaho; one sister, Jessica Baxter of Spiro; and two brothers, Joseph Baxter of Spiro and Ryan Foster of Fayetteville. Pallbearers will be Tim Carter, Andrew Clark, Ray Easley, Blair Lively, Ashley Peterson and Brad Hindley. The family will visit with friends from 6 to 8 p.m. today at the funeral home.