News Briefs From Across The State
Jury agreed woman was fired because of race
A woman who said she was fired from the Mississippi School for the Deaf because she is black was awarded over $200,000 by a federal jury. Melissa Ross was also awarded more than $40,000 in back pay and $165,000 for pain and suffering.
Ross had initially asked for $500,000.
The Clarion-Ledger reported that while the jury agreed that Ross was fired because of her race, they did not find that school officials retaliated against her.
Jan Schaefer, a spokeswoman for the state attorney general’s office, says the state plans to appeal.
Man killed in Ripley car accident
Authorities are still investigating a car accident that killed a man from Blue Mountain. Juan Orlando Castro, 44, was traveling west on East Walnut Street when officials said his vehicle crossed the center line and hit another car. That car was driven by Rebecca McKee, 32, of Ripley.
WTVA reported that Castro’s airbag deployed, but Castro was not wearing a seatbelt when he was killed.
McKee was transported to a local hospital where she was treated and released.
Woman killed on I-20
Police are investigating a one-vehicle accident that killed a 58-year old woman on Interstate 20. Authorities said Mary Taylor Walls was driving westbound on the interstate when her car veered off the roadway and onto the median.
Police said Walls then slammed into a bed of rocks where work was being done on a drainage ditch. Walls was pronounced dead at the scene.
The accident remains under investigation.
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