A tire blow out led to a fatality in Hardin County yesterday. 22-year old Mekayla Victoria
Howard, of Kountze, was traveling eastbound on FM 421 near the Bon Well Loop when a
westbound car veered into her lane following a tier blowout striking her head on. She was
airlifted to UTMB in Galveston where she died. The driver of the westbound car, 19-year
old Kyle West, of Lumberton and a teenage passenger suffered non-life threatening injuries.