Motorcycle wreck kills Vicksburg man

Published 11:45 am Friday, September 23, 2011

A motorcycle wreck Thursday night on Nine Mile Cut-Off Road claimed the life of a Vicksburg man, the fourth accidental fatality this week in Warren County.

William Edward “Eddie” Broadwater, 55, 24 Wigwam Road, “just loved to ride,” said his wife, Cheryl.

“He had a Harley at 18 and he’s been riding ever since,” Cheryl Broadwater said this morning.

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Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey said Eddie Broadwater was pronounced dead at 11:40 p.m. at the scene in the 1500 block of the winding road that connects Halls Ferry and China Grove roads.

Broadwater, who was wearing a helmet, died of a broken neck, Huskey said. An autopsy was not ordered, but Huskey said toxicology tests will be conducted, as required by law because he was operating a vehicle.

Broadwater had injured his neck in a July wreck, his wife said, and had recently undergone tests to have surgery.

“I told him, ‘You don’t need to be doing that,’ but he got another bike, figured out how to get it running and climbed right back on,” Cheryl Broadwater said. “He just loved to ride.”

His uncle, Red Hambright, a Wigwam Road neighbor, said Broadwater worked hard, stayed busy and “loved his motorcycles.”

“Eddie was a quiet man,” said Hambright. “He never bothered anybody. He loved the outdoors and liked to go fishing and hunting.”

Eddie Broadwater also loved sending text messages to friends in other cities and states, his wife said. “He liked to send little Scripture verses to people he knew from all over.”

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said Eddie Broadwater was headed west on Nine Mile Cut-Off Road just past its intersection with China Grove. He hit a sharp curve and apparently ran off the left side of the road, causing the bike, a 1999 Yamaha, to skid and flip over. A passing motorist called 911, Pace said.

Investigators do not believe any other vehicles were involved, said the sheriff.

Broadwater was a graduate of Warren Central High School, and a 27-year employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the mat-sinking unit, his wife said.

Broadwater also leaves his mother, Vinia G. Broadwater of Vicksburg; a stepson, Jeremy Stevens of Alabama; a stepdaughter, Lindsay Tindoll of Vicksburg; and numerous cousins, his wife said. Funeral arrangements were incomplete with Glenwood Funeral Home in charge.

Seven fatal vehicle wrecks have been recorded in Warren County in 2011, including two less than a week ago. Two others have been recorded this year within Vicksburg’s city limits.

On Sunday, just before 5 a.m., Anthony Sims, 40, address unknown, died when he was struck by a motor vehicle while a pedestrian on U.S. 80. Later, about 8:30 p.m., Kenneth F. Patterson, 32, 3159 Mount Alban Road, was killed in a single-car wreck at Jeff Davis and Mallet roads.

The two vehicle fatalities followed what Huskey ruled was an accidental shooting early Saturday morning. Jacob L. Foster, 27, 107 Saint Patrick St., died from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, the autopsy showed. It was the third accidental shooting death this year.

In 2010, one fatal wreck was recorded in the county and two in the city. No accidental shootings were recorded in 2010.