Two people killed in wrong-way crash along Interstate 79

Two people were killed Friday in a wrong-way crash on southbound Interstate 79 in Franklin Park, authorities said.

The five-vehicle crash occurred around 3 a.m. about 2 miles north of the Mount Nebo exit and closed the roadway south of the split with I-279 (Parkway North) for about six hours.

Brandy Marie Lamison, 31, and Justin Anthony Bowser, 20, were killed. Ms. Lamison was driving a red Honda Odyssey north in the left lane of the southbound highway just before the crash, according to state police. She was not wearing a seat belt.

Four vehicles were traveling south in the right lane; the second vehicle, a silver Hyundai Elantra driven by Mr. Bowser, moved into the left lane to pass a silver Toyota Highlander driven by a 71-year-old man and struck the Honda head-on.

The other three vehicles — including a Peterbilt water truck — were struck in the aftermath and sustained disabling damage and had to be towed from the scene. The 71-year-old man was wearing a seat belt and suffered only minor injuries, according to state police. The drivers of the other vehicles were not injured.

A trooper said state police had received a phone call from a driver reporting a vehicle heading the wrong way in the southbound lanes on I-79 just before the crash.

Court records show Ms. Lamison had been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in 2014. She was initially ordered to complete safe-driving classes and treatment as part of an Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition, a program designed to allow first-time, nonviolent offenders to keep charges off their records, but she failed to complete the requirements, records show.

She was removed from the program in December 2015 and pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor DUI count in February 2016, records show. She was sentenced to six months probation and ordered to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation, receive drug screening and attend a safedriving school.

Trooper Melinda Bondarenka said Friday it was too early to know whether drugs or alcohol played a role in the fatal crash.