WARREN, Ohio – The Ohio State Highway Patrol says speed may have been a factor in a devastating accident near Warren that left six teens dead and two others injured.
“It is the deadliest crash in Trumbull County and also…in the last three years, this is the only crash that had more than five deaths in the state of Ohio,” Lt. Brian Holt of the Patrol’s Warren Post said.
Grief counselors will be on hand at two schools today after the crash claimed the lives of six young people between the ages of 14 and 19.
Eight people were crammed into a Honda Passport that veered off the left side of a road and rolled into a pond just before 7:00 Sunday morning.
Brian Henry, 18, and Asher Lewis, 15, both of Warren, climbed from the vehicle and went to a nearby home to call 911, Patrol spokeswoman Lt. Anne Ralston said.
Investigators said speed appeared to be a factor, but they were still trying to figure out how fast the Honda was going when it crashed. None of the teens was wearing a seatbelt.
The crash occurred on Pine Street SE, north of the intersection of Burton Street in Warren, Ralston said.
After veering off the road, the SUV struck and rolled over a guardrail and ended up submerged on its roof in a swamp, Ralston said.
The Warren City Fire Department arrived and removed five victims from inside the vehicle. A sixth victim, reportedly the driver, was ejected and was under the vehicle when it was being removed from the water.
The teens were students at Warren G. Harding High School and Willard K-8 School.
All eight victims were taken to both St. Joseph’s and Trumbull Memorial Hospitals in Warren, Ohio.
The dead have been identified as Alexis Cayson, 19; Brandon Murray, 17; Kirklan Behner, Daylan Ray and Ramone White, all 15, and Andrique Bennett, 14.
All were from Warren, Ralston said.