Clinton County Sheriff Dan Travous has released further details on a Sunday night crash that killed one person and injured six others at the Huey Road and U.S. 50 intersection.
The person who died was a passenger in a westbound vehicle on U.S. 50 and has been identified as 57-year-old Crystal Harris of East Noleman Street in Centralia. She was a passenger in an SUV driven by her husband, 56-year-old William Harris. He was injured along with an 11-year-old juvenile boy who was also a passenger. All three were taken to SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Centralia where Crystal Harris later died from her injuries. William Harris was transferred to a St. Louis Hospital for treatment.
The driver of the northbound car on Huey Road is identified as 18-year-old Melena Chaney of New Baden. She along with three passengers in her car were injured. They are identified as 20-year-old Dustin Wessel and a 1-year-old boy from New Baden and 18-year-old Jacob McCord of Carlyle.
The sheriff’s department reports Chaney apparently pulled into the path of the Harris vehicle. After impact, the Harris vehicle overturned in the roadside ditch. The Chaney vehicle continued into a soybean field. There was no entrapment, but due to the number of injuries ambulances were called from Sandoval, Centralia, Carlyle, and Breese.
The crash occurred at 7:50 Sunday night. A State Police Accident reconstructionist is also investigating the crash.
This story has been changed to indicate the second person injured from New Baden was a one-year-old and not 21 as reflected in the initial information from the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department.
