Three killed in wrong-way I-71 crash identified
Three people who were killed in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 71 near Polaris Fashion Place on Nov. 26 have been identified.
Columbus police said Friday that 19year-old T'naya Douglas, of Mansfield, was driving a 2005 Ford Escape in the left lane of I-71 northbound, south of the Polaris Parkway exit, around 3 a.m. on Nov. 26.
A 2012 Honda Civic, driven by 26year-old Jacinto Mejia De La Cruz, of Columbus, got onto the interstate in the northbound lanes, but traveling traveling the wrong-way southbound, police said.
The Civic struck the Escape headon in the northbound lanes, police said.
Douglas and her passenger, 19-yearold Zhakyla Jackson, also of Mansfield, were taken to Ohiohealth Riverside Methodist Hospital. Both women succumbed to their injuries at the hospital.
De La Cruz was taken to Mount Carmel St. Ann's hospital, where he also succumbed to his injuries. The crash remains under investigation.
Columbus police are also investigating the cause of a head-on crash in which a person was killed on Thursday night.
Police said a Chevy Silverado pickup truck was headed east on Roberts Road, west of the Interstate 270 exit, about 7:10 p.m. Thursday at a high rate of speed when the driver lost control. The truck struck a light pole and then continued east on Roberts Road, striking a minivan head-on.
A person in the minivan died at Ohiohealth Doctor's Hospital at 8:18 p.m. Thursday, police said. That person has not yet been identified.
The driver of the pickup truck also was not released by police, nor was their condition or that of the other occupants of the minivan. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner