By Andrew Nelson
Clarion Ledger
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Services will be held today for a Kemper County deputy who was one of three people killed in a two-car crash near DeKalb last weekend.
William John Walters, 59, was on duty when the crash happened. The former Navy SEAL had been with the Kemper County Sheriff’s Department since September.
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The Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol is continuing to investigate the crash that killed Walters and two Birmingham-area women. It occurred about three miles east of DeKalb on Mississippi 16 on Sunday afternoon, said MHP Staff Sgt. Ronnie Carter.
Walters was driving east in a patrol car, a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria, Carter said. Barbara Haynes Emanuel, 61, of Helena, Ala., was driving west in a 2007 Honda Accord. Violet Barnes Pierce, 66, of Midfield, Ala., and Barbara V. Jaynes , 65, of Pleasant Grove, Ala., were passengers in the Accord.
Investigators are not sure how the crash happened, Carter said, but the Honda struck the passenger side of the patrol car. It had been raining that day, but Carter did not know whether the pavement was wet at the time.
Walters, Pierce and Emanuel were pronounced dead at the scene, Kemper County Coroner Kathy Lanier said.
Jaynes remained in critical condition Wednesday at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, hospital spokesman Brad Fisher said.
Walters and Pierce were not wearing seat belts, Carter said. Jaynes and Emanuel were.
Walters was one of six full-time deputies in the Kemper County Sheriff’s Department. Before becoming a deputy, he worked for the DeKalb Police Department.
Walters had the gift of gab, Campbell said. Instead of wrestling a suspect to the ground, he could talk someone into giving up without a struggle.
“He had a real way with people,” Campbell said. “From the time he’d been here he’d never been in a scuffle or anything.”
Services will be from 5-7 p.m. at Eastern Gate Funeral Home in Pensacola.