Cheryl Livingston of Edwards is hugged by her husband, Jeff Livingston, after finding out her mother, Betty Jean Weeden, had been killed in a car wreck Thursday evening. At right, David Morgan, a friend of the victim, also tries to comfort Cheryl Livingston. (Chad ApplebaumThe Vicksburg Post)

[7/25/03]An Edwards woman was killed and five other people were injured Thursday night in three wrecks on two highways within an hour of each other.

Betty J. Weeden, 58, 204 Utica St., Edwards, died in the wreck on U.S. 80 just east of the Big Black River around 6:30 p.m. James O’Neal, 52, 160 Bovina Drive, was injured in the wreck.

An employee at the Isle of Capri in Vicksburg and bus driver for the Hinds County schools, Weeden was driving home from a doctor’s appointment in Vicksburg, said David Morgan, a friend.

O’Neal was traveling west on the two-lane highway and crashed head-on with the compact car driven by Weeden, said Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol spokesman Warren Strain.

O’Neal was taken to River Region Medical Center, where he was in the Critical Care Unit in stable condition this morning, a hospital spokesman said.

Another wreck at nearly the same time, on Mississippi 27, and also near the Big Black River, injured two out-of-state women.

Authorities said the late-model Ford Taurus, driven by Tanya Marie Allen, 27, of Pensacola, Fla., was traveling south on the highway when it went underneath a northbound 18-wheeler, driven by Donald Coleman, 36, of Victoria, Texas.

Christie Frances Rader Livert, who was traveling with Allen, was taken to University Medical Center, where she had surgery and was in the Intensive Care Unit this morning, said a hospital spokesman in Jackson. Her age and address were not available.

Coleman was taken to River Region, where he was treated and released. Allen was also taken to River Region and was in stable condition this morning, a hospital spokes-man said.

The third wreck, which was reported at 5:40 p.m., was also on U.S. 80, near its intersection with Maria Drive. That wreck sent a Vicksburg woman to the hospital.

Tanna Edmond, 25, 4556 U.S. 80, was taken to River Region, where she was treated and released, a hospital spokesman said.

Edmond was turning left off the highway into a private driveway when the Honda Civic she was driving was struck by a Ford Ranger driven by James Wilkerson Jr., 32, 187 Bucks Drive, said Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol spokesman Jan Schaefer. No other injuries were reported in that wreck.

Both U.S. 80 and Mississippi 27 are two-lane highways. The Mississippi Department of Transportation has announced plans to four-lane Mississippi 27, a 50-mile stretch of highway which connects Interstates 20 and 55.

Thursday night’s fatality was the second this week on local highways. Robert James Smith, 71, 2007 Ford St., died in the early-morning hours Tuesday on Interstate 20 just east of Flowers while on his way home from work in Jackson.

An autopsy concluded that Smith fell asleep and left the westbound lane of the interstate, crossed the median and hit an eastbound 18-wheeler.