in the court of appeals of the state - Mississippi Supreme Court

a 1998 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 at speeds from 88-92 miles per hour during the early morning
hours of August 5, 2000, in rural Copiah County. The owner and driver of the automobile
was Travis Kirby, age 20, and with him were his two friends, Strickland, age 18 who was
in the front passenger seat, and Odom, age 19, who was in the back seat. At approximately
3:00 a.m., the automobile left the road, rolled, clipped a tree, continued to roll hitting another
tree, and then came to rest on its side against a tree. The accident, which occurred between
Crystal Springs and Hopewell, on Mississippi Highway 27, was not discovered until about
dawn when a passing motorist, Sandy Adams, saw a piece of tire tread and some gravel on
the side of the road. He stopped, spotted the car lying on its side against a pine tree, and
began to render aid. He found one young man, later identified as Strickland, conscious
sitting up against a tree to the left of the car and another young man, later identified as
Odom, nearby but unconscious lying face down on the ground. Adams called the sheriff’s
department. Adams said that Strickland kept saying, “Where’s Travis? We need to find
Travis,” so he started to look for a third person and found Kirby covered up in a brush pile.
When he checked Kirby’s pulse, he found he was dead.
6. According to Mississippi Highway Patrol investigator Cecelia Kazery, who
investigated the accident the same day but after the passengers had been removed from the
scene, there was no evidence of braking. There were scuff marks from the tire tread making
contact with the asphalt, according to her report. The report said that the Z28 rotated
counterclockwise and slid sideways until the rear bumper made contact with a tree. The
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