Henry County highway worker dies weeks after crash

NEW CASTLE, Ind. (AP) – A veteran Henry County Highway Department employee has died after suffering injuries last month in a crash.

The (Muncie) Star Press reports that 58-year-old Robert Lee Kirby was riding a county-owned backhoe on Indiana State Road 3 near New Castle on Nov. 20 when it was struck from behind by a semitrailer.

Kirby suffered a fractured skull and other injuries in the crash. He died Saturday at a medical facility in Greenfield. He had worked for the county for nearly 37 years.

The semitrailer driver told police that he glanced down at his truck’s gauges before the collision. He received a citation for speeding too fast to avoid a collision, but it’s unclear whether he’ll face criminal charges in Kirby’s death.