NATCHEZ — The fight that led to a wreck and three fatalities Wednesday was linked with a fight several days ago, law officials said Friday.

“It was a continuation of a fight that happened over a week ago in Vidalia,” Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said. “Over what, I do not know.”

Three people were killed and one seriously injured in a wreck Wednesday night when their truck drove into a ravine.

Passengers Nicklous Robert Kirby, 19, and Justin Dale Wiley, 21, both of Vidalia, and Kristin Leigh Holmes, 15, of Woodville, were killed in the wreck.

They were reportedly involved in a fight in front of a nightclub, which might have caused them to speed away, law officials said.

The driver and sole survivor, Michael Cody McJohnson, was at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson Friday and is being charged with aggravated assault in connection with the fight.

McJohnson’s mother, Rose Roberts, said he might be able to go home by the middle of next week.

“There had been a fight earlier between some of the boys with him and (those at the nightclub),” Roberts said. “Cody wasn’t with them when the first fight happened.”

Roberts said her son was not involved in the fight at the club Wednesday, either.

“He was trying to get the other people to leave with him,” Roberts said.

One of the passengers was supposed to be driving because McJohnson had a suspended driver’s license because of tickets, Roberts said.

Vidalia Police Chief Billy Hammers said he could not remember a fight at that time within the city limits.

Further charges against McJohnson are pending blood test results, Mullins said. Initial results showed that McJohnson’s blood alcohol content was above the legal limit, he said.

The police car in which an officer tried to follow the truck was not equipped with video, Mullins said. The department has several cars that do not have video, he said.

“We have a lot of maintenance problems with those things and have to send them off to Georgia to get them repaired,” Mullins said. “We’d love to have good video in every car, but we just don’t. It’s too expensive.”

Mullins said he would like to upgrade to digital video — the cars with video are still VHS format — but it would cost $4,000 for each car.

Videos are an excellent tool for cutting down on complaints and documenting calls, he said.