Carthage man convicted of manslaughter in 2006 traffic death, cited for DWI

A Carthage man convicted on felony charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault after the 2006 accident that killed Carthage High School student Hannah Smallwood, was cited by the Jasper County Sheriff's Department Sunday for driving while intoxicated.

Bond was set at $1,000 for Jarub Baird, who was arrested for the third time in approximately three months on traffic charges. He was also cited for driving more than 26 miles per hour over the speed limit on July 2 and for failure to use his turn signal on April 13. Both citations were also issued by the Sheriff's Department.

Baird was behind the wheel and driving at a speed estimated by witnesses at 110 miles per hour on December 8, 2006, when he went off the road, sliced through a utility pole, then went through a barbed wire fence and rolled for approximately 100 yards before the vehicle came to rest on its side.

One passenger, Hannah Smallwood, 15, Carthage, was thrown through the windshield and killed. Another passenger, her boyfriend Colby Johnson received a brain injury, a broken leg, and broke three bones in his hand. Those two and Baird were not wearing seat belts, according to the traffic report.

Baird and a passenger who was wearing a seat belt, Calee Houlihan, received minor injuries.

The day after Baird was bound over on the felony charges, he was arrested at a party on a minor in possession charge.

Baird's felony charges were moved to Stone County on a change of venue and a jury found him guilty on June 4, 2008, after a two-day trial. He was sentenced to four years on the manslaughter charge and three years on the assault charge. A few months later, he pleaded guilty to a drug dealing charge and was sentenced to two years in prison.