Two women have died after a wrong-way, three-vehicle collision on Interstate 277 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the driver police say caused it is facing two counts of second-degree murder, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).
Source: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
CMPD's Major Crash Investigation Unit said officers, the Charlotte Fire Department and MEDIC responded at about 12 a.m. on Sunday, October 18, to the 800 block of Brookshire Boulevard (I-277) in the Central Division, where they found a Toyota RAV4, a Hyundai Venue and a Chevrolet Equinox with heavy front-end damage, the department said in its release.
My'Angel Vonshay Robinson, a passenger in the Hyundai Venue, was pronounced dead at the scene, and Audrey Diamond Dawson, also in the Venue, was pronounced dead later at hospital, CMPD said. Everyone else involved was taken to hospital, the department said.
What police say happened
According to CMPD, the Toyota RAV4's driver, Kati Covarrubias Barron, was driving on the wrong side of I-277 into oncoming traffic without her headlights on and while impaired, and she did not have a valid licence. Police charged her with driving while impaired, driving by a person under 21 after consuming alcohol, having no operator's licence, two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of felony serious injury by vehicle, and reckless driving. The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.
Court documents cited in follow-up local reporting allege Covarrubias-Barron acknowledged drinking five mixed drinks before the crash, and she is being held in jail without bond. Awaaz Punjab is reporting that detail as an allegation from court documents, not as an established fact.
Source: Focal News (Charlotte)
Families remember Dawson and Robinson
Dawson's mother, Inga Gilmore, told local reporters she had been with both women only hours earlier to celebrate Dawson's birthday, and learned of the crash from an automated alert on her phone. She described the two women as family in every sense: "Angel and Diamond are sisters. We are family. All of us."
Gilmore said Dawson graduated from school at 17, served in the military, was raising a young daughter, and was working toward a pilot's licence and a master's degree, while Robinson was preparing to start a new job. CMPD said next of kin have been notified, and its investigation is continuing.