The victims of two fatal crashes on I-75 yesterday have been identified.
This first crash occurred around 6:30 p.m. Monday. A person driving a Toyota Tacoma on the I-75 overpass lost control of their vehicle due to icy road conditions. While traveling up the emergency lane trying to get control of their car, the driver was struck by a car driven by Phillip Latham, 70, of Loveland, Ohio, deputies said.
The sheriff’s office said after the Toyota Tacoma collided with Latham’s vehicle, it continued across all lanes of traffic, hitting two other vehicles. The Tacoma and those two vehicles stopped in the right emergency lane of the highway. Latham’s vehicle remained in the left emergency lane, facing the wrong direction after the crash.
Latham tried to cross the highway on foot to get to where the other three vehicles were stopped and was hit by another driver in the right lane. He was pronounced dead at the scene, deputies said.
Deputies do not believe that any other factors, such as speed or intoxication, contributed to the collision.
Meanwhile, a fatal crash on I-75 at the Mary Grubbs Highway exit shut the interstate down later on Monday evening.
A little before 9 p.m., a few hours after a different fatal crash on I-75, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office said there was a crash involving four vehicles.
Deputies said a Cadillac XT6 was traveling in the center lane when its driver began to slow as traffic in front of them slowed to a stop; the Cadillac was rear-ended by the driver of a Ford Ranger.
The Cadillac then went into the left lane, sideswiping a Hyundai Elantra while the Ford Ranger entered the right lane, sideswiping a Toyota Highlander.
The collisions led two passengers in the Cadillac to be ejected; one of those passengers, 70-year-old Linda Hendricks, of St. Augustine, Florida, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The second passenger was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
Two other passengers in the Cadillac were also taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries; the driver was not hurt.