BARRY COUNTY, Mo. — A 1-year-old boy and a woman, both from St. Louis, died in a crash in Barry County, Missouri, Friday night, after their driver, also from St. Louis, failed to stop at a stop sign.
The woman killed in the crash, 32-year-old Xiaoxiao Zheng, and the 1-year-old boy who died were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash by the Barry County Coroner, an online crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.
The woman was not wearing a seat belt, and the boy was not properly secured.
The driver and his third passenger, a St. Louis 3-year-old girl, survived the crash with what police called moderate injuries and were taken to Mercy Hospital of Joplin, the report said. They were both properly secured before the crash.
The crash happened shortly before 9:30 p.m. where Missouri Highway 97 meets U.S. Route 60, three miles west of Monett, Missouri. Monett is southwest of Springfield, Missouri.
After not stopping at a stop sign, the car, a 2014 Subaru Legacy, traveled into the path of a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado. The crash caused both vehicles to leave the roadway.
The crash report did not say if a citation would be issued to the driver or the relationship between the passengers.
Wearing a seat belt or properly securing children increases the odds of surviving a crash, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
"Buckling up is the single most effective thing you can do to protect yourself in a crash," a NHTSA seat belt webpage said. "If you don’t wear your seat belt, you could be thrown into a rapidly opening frontal air bag. Such force could injure or even kill you."
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