ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – A community is mourning the loss of a well-known individual in the Walnut Park neighborhood of north St. Louis County.
44-year-old Dwayne Washington, known as “Walnut Park Wayne,” was killed in a car crash early Monday morning on Interstate 270 west of Lilac Avenue.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, he was traveling too fast and inattentively eastbound on I-270 when he struck a guard rail. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Many have taken their grief and compassion for Washington to social media. He was remembered as kind-spirited and a great barber. Jerrod Harris has known him since he was young.
“Man, I been knowing Wayne since he was a little boy. I know his family, I used to cut his hair. He was kind of like my hair cut dummy if you will. I used to work on him and do texturizers and stuff,” Harris said. “Always positive, always had good words to say, funny. You know, uplifting, good spirit.”
FOX 2 reached out to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and received the following response:
“We have nothing further to report aside from what is on the online crash report. Driver was traveling too fast and failed to maintain proper lookout of roadway ahead and traveled off road and struck the guardrail.“
Those close to Washington say he will be missed.
“Rest in peace to my boy, Wayne. I mean, he’s leaving an impact on the city. Everybody knows him. Much love to his family. If there’s anything they need I’m right here at First Class barbershop,” Harris said.
Traffic safety experts label the period from Memorial Day to Labor Day as the “100 deadliest days” due to a spike in fatal crashes nationwide.
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