Police: 11-year-old driver killed when truck hits tree

CULLEN, La. – Louisiana State Police say an 11-year-old has died after the speeding pickup truck he was driving hit a tree.

Trooper Glenn Younger says in a news release that only Clark James Davis was in the 1993 Ford Ranger when it went off Louisiana Highway 802 about 4:15 a.m. Saturday in Webster Parish, about 5 miles (8 kilometres) south of the Arkansas state line.

The release says the boy wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was ejected. It didn’t say why he was driving alone at night.

Younger says Davis was from Webster Parish. In an email, he said the truck was registered in Shongaloo, about 8 miles (3 kilometres) east of the accident site. He didn’t say who owned the truck.

Younger says investigators believe speed was a factor.