Arrest made in June 2024 DUI death

A Montgomery man is now facing trial for the June 2024 death of an Eclectic woman.

Sean Macon, 55, was arrested March 4 and charged with manslaughter and first-degree assault DUI of Angel Ward, 22, following an Elmore County Grand Jury Indictment signed by a foreperson on Jan. 17. Macon posted a $75,000 bond Wednesday, March 5 and was released pending trial.

Jennie Zinn and her husband Chris had custody of Ward as a teenager and considered her a daughter. Zinn said Ward was a passenger in a vehicle headed to Montgomery on U.S. Highway 231 around Heady’s Scoops about 2 a.m. June 1, 2024. Macon was driving the wrong way.

“He hit them head on,” Zinn said. 

Ward survived the initial impact of the crash, but was critically injured.

“She was in the hospital for eight days,” Zinn said. 

Ward’s brother was in the Marine Corps and was brought back from deployment on emergency leave.

“He didn’t make it in time,” Zinn said. “She died the day he came back. We did the funeral while he was here.”

Zinn said there was no arrest at the time of the crash.

The adoptive mother said Ward was making a better life for herself, not allowing the past to be an anchor.

“She had big plans for her future,” Zinn said. “Her goal was to be better than the generation before her was. She was doing really good with setting new standards. Her brother is carrying on the goal in the Marines.”

Ward was building a foundation in the community. She was living in her grandmother’s home with a lease.

“She was working on it because it was going to be hers eventually,” Zinn said. “She replaced the floors and painted. She was spending her money on fixing the house up. She was doing really good.”

Zinn said Ward had a lot of friends in the community and worked at Cotton’s BBQ on Highway 63 just north of Eclectic. 

“That is where she knew a lot of people from,” Zinn said. “Customers there loved her. She was well known because of her job and her hard work. She tried to help everybody.”