Rear-end crash kills New Smyrna man

A New Smyrna Beach driver was seriously hurt and her passenger was killed Wednesday when a Jeep sport utility vehicle hit their Hyundai in the rear, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The Hyundai driver was identified Thursday as Elizabeth Sullivan, 54. She was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center. The passenger was Robert Sullivan, 60, also of New Smyrna Beach. Their car was stopped about 4:55 p.m. at a traffic light on eastbound State Road 44 at Prevatt Avenue east of DeLand when the SUV, driven by Joseph Hyden, 39, of Port Orange, rear-ended them, troopers said. The car was pushed into the back of a Buick SUV that also was stopped. Nobody in the Buick was seriously injured. Hyden’s SUV overturned, but he was not injured, investigators said. Everyone was wearing a seat belt.