Fwd: Story in today's Eagle

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Jerry Wexler,lmt/nct

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-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Roy <br...@oxfordeagle.com>
To: iteachmassage <iteach...@aol.com>
Sent: Fri, Apr 20, 2012 2:26 pm
Subject: Story in today's Eagle

Hi Jerry,
Here are a couple of items from today's Eagle I thought you'd like to 
see. Top of page 1 story.
Brian


Cyclist's death still affects many

Ermin's husband wants facts known

Six months after witnessing the death of 27-year-old bicyclist Kevser 
Ermin, Kristin Gaines is still haunted by the University of 
Mississippi doctoral candidate's beautiful face.
"She's with me every day," Gaines said of Ermin. "She'll always be with me."
Gaines is not alone. Since Ermin's death on Oct. 7, 2011, and because 
the case was never presented to the grand jury in February, The 
Oxford EAGLE has received Letters to the Editor, emails and phone 
calls from people who, in one way or another, have been affected by 
Ermin's death.
Some, like Gaines, claim too many unanswered questions remain. Others 
simply want Ermin's death to not be in vain and are looking for ways 
to improve the relationship between bicyclists and cars on the road.
Gaines never met Ermin until Oct. 7. That was the morning Gaines was 
driving east on Old Sardis Road (Highway 314) around 10 a.m. when she 
spotted a familiar pick-up, driven by her friend John Duchaine, 
pulled over on the side of the road.
She noticed some debris behind his truck.
She quickly learned the debris was a bicycle that had been struck by 
a car. The force of the car striking the bicycle had thrown the 
bike's rider, Ermin, down into an embankment.
Gaines rushed down the hill to stay with Ermin until an ambulance arrived.
"I don't think she was alive, but I wasn't sure so I stayed with her 
and talked to her," Gaines said.
Ermin was pronounced dead at the scene when Lafayette County Coroner 
Rocky Kennedy arrived a short time later.

back to Oxford from Sardis Lake. She was hit by a car driven by Grady 
Bailey of Greenwood, a 21-year-old Ole Miss student at the time, 
according to the report on the accident filed by the Mississippi 
Highway Patrol. Because the accident happened on a state highway, the 
Highway Patrol had jurisdiction over the investigation.
Bailey was driving a car that belonged to Maggie Hicks of Benton, and 
she was a passenger in the car when the wreck occurred. After hitting 
Ermin, Bailey continued driving for about a mile before turning 
around and returning to the scene of the wreck, according to the 
Highway Patrol report.
Unanswered questions
After returning to the scene, Bailey asked Gaines whether Ermin was 
OK of if she was dead.
"I told him I thought she had died, and he bent down and tied his 
shoe," Gaines said. "Who does that?"
Bailey was offered a toxicology test at the scene, but he refused, 
and the trooper decided not to take any additional action to compel 
Bailey to submit to a drug test.
In vehicle death cases, if a trooper has probable cause that the 
driver might have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol, the 
trooper is required to perform the toxicology test, Trooper Joseph W. 
Miller, spokesman for MHP Troop E, told The EAGLE in October. If the 
driver refuses to submit to a drug test, the officer can then take 
his probable cause to a judge, who can then issue a warrant to have 
the Highway Patrol pick up the suspect and require the suspect to 
submit to a drug test that day.
No charges were filed against Bailey and the Highway Patrol never 
presented its case to the district attorney so he could then decide 
whether there was sufficient evidence to take it to the grand jury.
While the MHP report shows Bailey failed to yield the right-of-way, 
because the trooper did not see Bailey hit Ermin, the trooper could 
not issue a citation for failing to yield or for violating the 
three-foot law, which requires motorists to remain at least three 
feet away from cyclists on the side of the road when possible.
"You'd think the fact that he hit her would be proof enough," Gaines 
said. "Obviously not."
Duchaine, who was first on the scene and who called 911, said he's 
sure Bailey did not hit Ermin intentionally and he called Ermin's 
death a tragic accident. However, he does feel more could have been 
done with the investigation.
"He refused the toxicology test," Duchaine said. "That's a signal to 
me it should have proceeded further."
Duchaine said his and others' questions may never be answered.
Uneasiness with situation
"I don't believe there's any cover-up or underhandedness here," 
Duchaine said. "But there's an uneasiness with the whole situation. 
When you come up on something like this, it really affects you. You'd 
like to be able to say that everything was done that could have been 
done. I don't know if that's the case here."
Since Ermin's death, those who knew her have tried to keep her spirit 
and her name alive by holding bicycling events in her name and 
leading the successful effort to rename Old Sardis Road the "Ermin 
Kevser Memorial Highway."
Friends and family members have all heard suspicions, rumors and 
opinions regarding the death of Ermin and the circumstances 
surrounding it that have ranged from Bailey not being the driver that 
day, to Ermin having swerved her bike in front of Bailey. Some have 
suggested Ermin was using ear phones or was on her cell phone and did 
not hear the driver behind her. Some say the sun was in the driver's 
eyes that morning. Some people have expressed their views that 
bicycles just don't belong on major roads.
Others have pointed out that while Bailey was not indicted by the 
grand jury last month, his passenger, Hicks, was. Hicks was indicted 
by the grand jury on a felony charge of selling marijuana for an 
incident that was allegedly committed months before the Ermin 
incident took place.
They asked whether the state trooper had sufficient probable cause to 
demand a toxicology test be performed given the fact that the owner 
of the car that hit Ermin had been arrested fairly recently on a drug 
charge, and that she also happened to be the passenger in the car 
when Ermin was killed.
The EAGLE's recent phone calls and emails to Bailey and the MHP were 
not returned.
Just the facts
Ermin's husband, Yavuz Ozeren, said he's heard all the opinions and 
rumors, but he said the facts are clear and those facts are the only 
things that should be considered.
Ozeren did not wish to be quoted because he said he could not be 
objective and his personal feelings are not what matters, only the 
facts surrounding his wife's death.
Those facts, determined through investigations by the MHP and 
forensic engineers hired by Ermin's family, show that Ermin was 
riding on the side of the road in a straight line on clear, sunny 
day. She was wearing her helmet and a white shirt and black pants. 
She was not wearing headphones. Her cell phone, recovered by a 
paramedic from her jacket in a zipped pocket, shows a GPS log that 
tracked Ermin's path during her entire trip back from Sardis Lake 
which later proved she was riding on a straight path near the edge of 
the road. There were no signs of brake marks, indicating the driver 
did not slow down before hitting Ermin.
Attorney Jay Hughes, the Oxford lawyer representing Ermin's family, 
said no civil lawsuit is expected to be filed and that the family has 
settled out of court with Bailey.
Making it safer
Since Ermin's death, city officials have pushed to make Oxford's 
roads safer for cyclists. This week, 12 signs have been placed around 
the city, reminding drivers of the three-foot law. On Jackson and 
University avenues, signs that say "(Bicycle symbol) may use full 
lane" have been posted in recent days to remind motorists that 
bicyclists have a legal right to be on the roadway.
As part of the Phase 2 Pathways Project, work will begin on Old 
Sardis Road where bike lanes will be built on each side of the road 
from the Jackson Avenue-Highway 314 intersection to the first 
entrance at FNC Park.
Workers were scheduled to begin this morning removing the surface 
layer of old pavement from the intersection of McElroy and Highway 
314, just past Sky Mart, to the Norwood Condos. On Monday, the 
contractor is scheduled to pave the milled area.
Single-lane closures with flagmen will be used to direct traffic 
through the work zone. The milled surface will be open to traffic all 
weekend and until the paving is complete. Motorists are encouraged to 
drive slowly in the area.
Once complete, this section of roadway will include 6-feet bike lanes 
on each side of the roadway. The contractor will then return to work 
on Highway 314 in the fall to widen the existing roadway and add bike 
lanes on each side up to FNC park.
"Something positive needs to come of this - whether that's a change 
in the laws or safer roads with bike lanes," Duchaine said. "The 
world is worse off without Kevser. She was a remarkable young lady."



This was also included on the front beside where the above story started:

Highway named after Ermin

A bill naming a stretch of road in Lafayette County the Kevser Ermin 
Memorial Highway in honor of the bicyclist, doctoral student and wife 
killed while cycling last fall has been approved and was signed by 
the governor Thursday.
The road, on Highway 314 from County Road 102 and heading northwest 
for 4.5 miles, will officially become the memorial highway on July 1.
Mississippi Department of Transportation will erect signs along the 
4.5 miles after July 1.
"Honoring her name is helping us stay strong in this incredible heart 
breaking situation," Ibrahim Tabanca said. "Thank you everybody for 
making such an effort in this kind of event."
State Rep. Tommy Reynolds requested the bill in the House after being 
asked by friends of Ermin. In November, the Lafayette County Board of 
Supervisors approved a resolution asking the Mississippi State 
legislator to approve renaming the road.