Virginia State Police believe 72-year-old Carol E. Mitchell of Newport News set off the series of events that led the fatal 3-vehicle crash in York County Friday night.
The crash occurred around 8 p.m. on I -64 at the 243 mile marker exit for Busch Gardens.
VSP said its preliminary investigations reveal Mitchell was headed west in a 2009 Civic. She attempted to make a lane change and sideswiped a Mitsubishi Outlander. That collision caused the Outlander to run off the road and hit a guardrail, police said.
Meanwhile, Mitchell’s Honda was stopped in the center lane of I-64 when it was hit from behind by a Buick Lacross, VSP reported.
Mitchell was taken to Riverside Regional Hospital but died from her injuries, State Police reported. The driver of the Mitsubishi, 33-year-old Kierra Marie Murray also of Newport News, and her front seat passenger, were transported to Riverside Regional Hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries, VSP also noted.
Cody Ryan Butschillinger, a 30-year-old from Barhamsville, was driving the Buick and didn’t sustain any injuries.
The crash is still under investigation but VSP has concluded that speed and alcohol are not contributing factors.
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