4 killed in car crash on Christmas Day
Single-vehicle wreck in Dayton left 3 people in critical condition.
Four people were killed and three others were left in critical
condition on Christmas Day following a single-vehicle crash in Dayton, according to police.
The crash occurred at the intersection of West Third Street and Brooklyn Avenue around 11 a.m. near the former Wright Company factory site.
Three people were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. A fourth victim, identified only as a juvenile, died after being taken to a hospital.
At least one adult and one juvenile are among the victims that were pronounced dead at the scene, according to investigators. Three other victims were transported to area hospitals and are all in critical condition, police said.
Shameka Littlejohn told the Dayton Daily News she was on her way to breakfast with her family when she spotted a woman driving a vehicle to her left, one that was going slightly faster than her
and zig-zagging.
“I got my son’s attention and I said ‘Look at that car’ and she kept zig-zagging, so I pulled my car over and she went straight through the intersection,” Littlejohn said. “She just hit the tree, the car instantly split in two, caught on fire. I saw a kid fly out
the car.”
The woman said witnessing the crash was traumatic and nerve-wracking, especially because of the age of the children, the oldest of whom looked to be no older than 7 years old and the youngest who looked to be no older than 1 year old. “People just started getting the
kids away from the car because the flames got bigger and bigger
and then it just took over the car after a while,” Littlejohn said. “It’s sad. I feel sorry for that family and having to experience that on Christmas.”
Passersby helped take children out of the vehicle, removing them to safety and comforting them until police and paramedics arrived, she said.
“It was a lot of people working together,” Littlejohn said.
Police on Wednesday were still
investigating the cause of the crash.
The identities of those involved were not released, pending notification of family.
There have been 40 fatal accidents in Montgomery County in 2019, compared to 47 in 2018, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. There have been 12,561 total crashes in Montgomery County this year.
In Ohio, there have been 972 fatal accidents this year, compared to 996 crashes in 2018, highway patrol data shows.
From Dec. 21-25 last year, the highway patrol recorded 10 fatal crashes and 11 deaths, according to the highway patrol.
During the Thanksgiving holiday, 15 people were killed in Ohio crashes, nearly doubling the eight fatal crashes in 2018.