(MINERVA)  A 45 year old Cameron man and a 26 year old woman from Mathis were killed Friday in a motorcycle/car accident in Minerva.  According to DPS reports, James Reginald Hayes and Carrie Lynn Schmidt were pronounced dead at the scene at 6:44 p.m. Friday.  Hayes, driving a Honda motorcycle, was north bound on highway 77, with Schmidt his passenger, meanwhile, Brenda Earl of Cameron, in a 1995 Saturn was southbound, when she entered the curve approaching Minerva.  Mrs. Earl swerved to avoid collision but struck the motorcycle with its front right side.  Mrs. Earl and her husband Geoffrey were taken to Scott and White Hospital in Temple.  Mrs. Earl suffered a broken ankle in the accident, while her husband Geoffrey was treated and released.  The accident report said the two vehicles collided at the center stripe.  Neither Hayes nor Schmidt were wearing helmets and both were pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Twila Harris.

DPS Trooper Michael Nix investigated and was assisted by Troopers Jimmy Morgan, Ernest Del Bosque and Senior Trooper Kelvin Dawson of Bryan.