COLUMBUS – A 16-year-old was killed and three other teens critically injured when their SUV crashed into a tree in Franklin Township in southwest Franklin County Thursday night.
Cory McGruder, of Grove City, was riding in a 1997 Chevrolet Blazer, travelling southbound on Brown Road south of Frank Road at approximately 6:40 PM when the 18-year-old driver appears to have lost control of the vehicle and went off the left side of the roadway sideways, hitting a tree with the passenger side doors, Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin said.
McGruder was pronounced deceased by the attending physician at Grant Hospital at 7:25 PM.
The driver of the SUV, Christian Bednarz, also of Grove City, was listed in critical condition, as were two other passengers in the vehicle. Ezekiel Atkinson, 18, of Columbus, and Casey McGruder, 16, of Grove City, Baldwin said.
There is no indication that alcohol or drugs were a factor in this crash, which remains under investigation, Baldwin said.