The Florida Highway Patrol said four people were killed Friday night and two others are in critical condition following a fiery head-on crash in Jacksonville, Florida. News 4 Jax reported that around 9:30 p.m., 30-year-old Evelyn Tyson was driving a 1998 Toyota Corolla on US 90 near an intersection on West Beaver Street at Otis Road when she collided with a 2015 Jeep Patriot.
The Corolla, which was carrying five passengers, came to a stop across the eastbound and westbound lanes, while the Jeep Patriot came to a rest on the northern shoulder before catching fire, trapping four people inside.
Not long after the crash, a Chevrolet pickup truck slammed into the side of the Corolla, causing it to slide into the side of a GMC Pickup.
It was reported that two of the passengers in the Corolla, a 12-year-old boy, Antonio Hardwick Jr., who FHP said wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, and Christina Davis, 35, a mother of seven, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Friends say Davis was in the area to help one of her friends move her belongings to California, and none of her children were in the car at the time of the crash. It was also noted that the driver of the Corolla had her two children in the vehicle.
Head-on crash kills four on Jacksonville’s Westside https://t.co/E2wlPFzYMe pic.twitter.com/2Km3U1mxjE
— WOKV News (@WOKVNews) March 24, 2018
Tyson, as well as Thaddeus Sutton, 42, and a 9-year-old girl, Gloria Bunks, all of Jacksonville, were transported to UF Health. Sutton died from his injuries shortly after his arrival while Tyson and Bunks remain in critical condition.
FHP stated that the driver of the Jeep Patriot was also killed in the crash, but officials have yet to identify the victim.
The driver of the Chevrolet, identified as 50-year-old Herbert Williams, was transported to Ed Fraser Hospital in Macclenny with minor injuries. He was later released. Cheyenne Wester, 18, of Jacksonville, was the driver of the GMC and she was not injured, according to FHP.
A driver from the second crash stated that the road is in need of more street lights. He said, “The road is so dark you can’t see nothing at night. Even the state trooper said they even hate traveling that road.”
Action News Jax reported that the accident on Beaver Street prompted troopers to close all lanes. Authorities will be conducting an investigation to determine if alcohol played a role in the deadly crash.