Crash that killed CSU student sparks lengthy investigation

Civil lawsuit has been filed and dismissed; plaintiff sought $25K.

Nearly one year has passed since a crash in Beavercreek killed a Central State University student and critically injured two others.

The two-vehicle crash on Nov. 27, 2017, shut down traffic on I-675 north for hours that afternoon. It took Beavercreek police several months before investigators were able to report who was at fault.

CSU student Trayvon Trammer, 20, was one of three passengers in the yellow 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier driven by 21-yearold Kennise Hicks, police said. Trammer was pronounced dead at the scene.

Hicks and passenger Andrew Clark, 21, were critically injured. A third passenger, 20-year-old Caleb Upton, was also taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries.

The Cavalier was “traveling at a slow speed” in the right lane when it was struck from behind by a white 2009 Suzuki Equator pickup truck driven by 35-year-old John Tokarz, of Beavercreek, according to the crash report.

Police said in the days following the crash that one of the Cavalier’s wheels was a spare tire.

Tokarz had changed from the middle to the right lane and did not slow down in time to avoid colliding with the Cavalier, according to the report.

Beavercreek investigators met with the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office this year, and it was determined that Hicks, the Cavalier’s driver, was at fault, according to the crash report.

A civil suit was filed on behalf of Trammer against Tokarz, but because the notification was not successfully delivered to Tokarz, Greene County Judge Michael Buckwalter dismissed the case, according to records in Greene County Common Pleas Court. The plaintiff in the lawsuit was seeking $25,000, according to court records.

Citing the lawsuit, Upton and Tokarz declined to comment for this story. Messages left with the others who were involved in the crash were not returned.