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  • Ray Murray Death, Lake Charles, Louisiana: Driver Dies in Lafayette After Being Moved Between Hospitals Following 3 A.M. Crash💔

    Ray Murray was still alive when he left the crash scene in Lake Charles early Saturday morning. He never made it home.

    The wreck happened just after 3 a.m. at Gerstner Memorial and Third Street. Two vehicles were involved. Murray, a Lake Charles man, was one of the drivers.

    He was first taken to Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. Doctors there sent him on to a hospital in Lafayette, where he could get more treatment.

    That move did not change the outcome. Murray was pronounced dead at Lafayette General Hospital.

    Think about how that night went for him. A crash at an intersection, a hospital in his own city, then another one in a different town. People worked to save him at every stop. It was not enough.

    For the people who know Murray, the news came with no warning. One minute he was a neighbor, a friend, a family member. Then he was gone.

    The Lake Charles Police Department’s Traffic Division is looking into the crash. No cause has been made public. What happened in the seconds before the two vehicles hit is still unclear.

    Our thoughts are with Ray Murray’s family and friends in Lake Charles.

  • Micah Bacchus, Houston, Texas: Big Sister Defends “Little Brother” After DJ Dies Leaving a Party💔

    His big sister wants people to know one thing about Micah Bacchus. He was her little brother, and he was loved. She said it plainly after the 36-year-old DJ died in a crash in Houston early Sunday morning.

    Bacchus went by DJ Micah B. Police have said little so far, but the basic facts are clear. A little before 3 a.m., at about 2:39, his vehicle left the road along the 9000 block of Humble Westfield Road, near McKnight Lane.

    The vehicle rolled several times and ended up in a ditch. It also hit a pole. Bacchus was pronounced dead at the scene.

    Reports say he was a DJ on his way home from a party when it happened. That is the part that sticks. He had spent the night doing the work he was known for, and he never made it back.

    The woman who said she was his big sister did not stay quiet. She spoke up for him and asked people to be kind. Her family is still trying to take it in, she said, and she did not want strangers judging her brother while they grieve.

    Those close to him described him as phenomenal, loving and deeply cherished. His mother is mourning a son who won’t walk through her door again. His fiancée is mourning the life they planned to build.

    Authorities are still looking into what led to the crash. For now, his family has questions and no answers. They have a name to protect, and they are asking everyone to remember Micah Bacchus as the man his loved ones knew.

  • Tom Ellison, Augusta, Georgia: Father of Waynesboro Dies After State Patrol Chase Ends in Crash💔

    Tom Ellison was a father. He was 31, and he lived in the Waynesboro area. He died early Sunday morning after a crash that came at the end of a police chase.

    It started Saturday night, Oct. 24, when a Georgia State Patrol trooper went after the vehicle Ellison was driving. The chase ended in Augusta. During it, the trooper used a PIT maneuver. That’s a move where a patrol car taps the back corner of another vehicle to force it to spin and stop.

    The vehicle crashed at Doug Bernard Parkway and Dixon Airline Road. That’s a busy stretch on the east side of Augusta. Emergency crews got to the scene fast.

    EMS took Ellison to Wellstar MCG Health Medical Center. He was pronounced dead there at 12:28 a.m. Sunday. The Richmond County Coroner’s Office confirmed it.

    The coroner’s office said an autopsy has been scheduled. That is the next step. It will help show exactly how he died.

    The State Patrol has not shared much more. Details about the chase itself, like how long it lasted and why the trooper went after him, have not been made public.

    That leaves a lot of open questions for the people who knew Ellison. They are waiting on answers, and they are also grieving. A 31-year-old father is gone, and a family in Waynesboro is left to carry that. Our condolences go out to everyone who loved him.

  • Sharon Logan Death, Alexandria, Louisiana: Driver, 65, Dies in Surgery After Saturday Night Crash💔

    Sharon Logan was still alive when the ambulance got her to the hospital. Doctors rushed her into surgery. She died on the operating table. She was 65.

    It all started a little before 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, at Coliseum Boulevard and Heyman Lane in Alexandria. Logan was driving a red Dodge Charger. A silver Cadillac SRX was on the same stretch of road. The two vehicles hit each other.

    Police got the call at about 6:59 p.m. When officers pulled up, they found more than one person hurt. Logan had critical injuries, and she was taken to a local hospital.

    She was not alone in the car. A passenger in the Charger was badly hurt and is still in the hospital. Police have not said how that person is doing now.

    The driver of the Cadillac got off lightly. That person had minor injuries, was treated at a hospital and went home.

    Police say the Charger was heading south on Heyman Lane and was trying to cross Coliseum Boulevard. The Cadillac was heading west on Coliseum. That’s where the two met. Police call these findings preliminary.

    Investigators took routine toxicology samples from both drivers and sent them to the Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory. The results are not in yet. Police have not said what caused the crash, and they have not announced any charges.

    A family in Alexandria is dealing with a loss, and a second family is waiting to hear how a loved one is recovering. Our condolences go out to everyone who knew Sharon Logan.

  • John Agans Death, Dahlonega, Georgia: Motorcyclist, 41, Killed When SUV Turned Into His Path💔

    John Thomas Agans was riding his motorcycle on Saturday afternoon when an SUV turned left right in front of him. He was 41. He died a short time later at NGMC-Lumpkin.

    It happened just before 4 p.m. on GA 52 at Auraria Road, just west of Dahlonega. Agans lived in Dahlonega, so this was home ground for him. He was heading south on a 2003 Triumph.

    Coming the other way was a 2019 Toyota 4Runner. The driver was James Fondren IV, 50, of Braselton. Troopers with the Georgia State Patrol said he was headed north and tried to turn left onto Auraria Road.

    That left turn put the SUV across Agans’ lane. There was almost no room to stop. The motorcycle hit the right side of the 4Runner, near the middle post between the front and back doors.

    Agans was taken to NGMC-Lumpkin. Doctors could not save him. Troopers said he died from his injuries there.

    Fondren came out of it much better. He had minor injuries and was checked by paramedics at the scene. He was arrested on the spot.

    Fondren is charged with failure to yield, driving under the influence and first-degree homicide by vehicle. Those are charges, and the case still has to go through court. The State Patrol has not said what led up to the turn.

    For people in Dahlonega, this is another name added to a hard list of local crashes. Agans was a neighbor to many of them. Our condolences go out to his family and friends.

  • Caryn Coon Death, Toms River, New Jersey: Two Women Die After Cars Slam Into Truck Stopped Behind Broken-Down Genesis💔

    Caryn Coon was 22 and lived in Forked River. Lauren Maturo was 32 and came from Syosset, New York. Both women died Saturday night, Oct. 24, in a crash on the northbound Garden State Parkway in Toms River. They were in separate cars.

    It started with a Genesis that broke down in the center lane near milepost 87. A Freightliner tractor-trailer was stopped right behind it. New Jersey State Police say that was the scene at about 9:42 p.m.

    Coon was driving a Honda in the same stretch of road. She hit the back of the truck. The force sent her car off the right side of the Parkway and down a grassy embankment. Coon suffered fatal injuries.

    Seconds later, a Ford SUV hit the back of that same truck. Amanda McHenry, 32, of New York City, was behind the wheel. Maturo, 32, was in the front passenger seat. She died from her injuries.

    McHenry was seriously hurt and was taken to a hospital. The truck driver had minor injuries. State police said no one else was hurt.

    Saturday’s crash was the fifth deadly one on the Garden State Parkway in Ocean County this year. This one happened just north of the Toms River toll plaza.

    Police have not said why the Genesis stopped in the center lane. For two families, that question comes after a bigger one. A 22-year-old from Forked River and a 32-year-old from Long Island did not make it home.

  • Charlton Wallace Death, Toledo, Ohio: Dies at 26 After Crash Police Learned of Through Apple Alert💔

    Charlton Wallace, 26, of Toledo, died early Sunday after a two-car crash near North Cove Boulevard and Central Avenue. Toledo police say it happened around 3:47 a.m. Wallace was behind the wheel.

    Police did not get a call from a witness first. The word came through Apple’s Crash Detection feature, which sent a crash alert to 911.

    Both cars were heading west. Police say one of them tried to turn right onto Pioneer Lane from the left lane. The two vehicles hit, and one of them took the blow on its passenger side.

    Wallace was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. He was pronounced dead there.

    He was not the only one hurt. A 26-year-old passenger in his car was badly injured, with wounds police called life-threatening. A 29-year-old man was hurt in the crash too.

    That’s a lot of damage for a few seconds on a quiet road before sunrise. Nobody was out there to see it. A phone was the first to say something went wrong.

    Police have released no more details so far. What they have confirmed is simple. A 26-year-old Toledo man left for the night and did not make it home.

  • Joseph Wheeler, Wilson, Oklahoma: Passenger Thrown From UTV and Killed, Driver Flown to Oklahoma City💔

    Joseph Wheeler was riding as a passenger in a UTV on Saturday evening when it left Faith Hill Road near Wilson, Oklahoma. He was thrown from the vehicle. He died at the scene. He was 35 and lived in Ringling.

    The crash happened around 7 p.m. on Oct. 24 in Carter County. Troopers with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol say a Can-Am UTV was heading east when it drifted off the left side of the road and hit a tree.

    Terry Josey, 43, of Healdton, was driving. He was hurt badly. A helicopter took him to a hospital in Oklahoma City, and he was listed in critical condition.

    The UTV rolled several times after it struck the tree, according to the highway patrol. That is how Wheeler ended up outside the vehicle. Troopers say he was ejected from the passenger seat.

    Seat belts were not in use, troopers said. They also say the UTV was going at a high speed. They have not said why it left the road.

    Wilson police asked the highway patrol to take over the investigation. Troopers are the ones working to figure out what led up to the crash.

    Wheeler’s family and friends have not said anything publicly so far. All that has been shared about him is his age and his hometown. He was a 35-year-old man from Ringling who got into a UTV on a Saturday and did not come home.

    The investigation is still open, and troopers have not released anything more.

  • Lloyd Collins Death, Isom, Kentucky: Whitesburg Man Killed on His Bicycle Before 6 A.M.💔

    Lloyd Collins was on his bicycle early Saturday morning when a pickup truck hit him on KY 1148 in Isom, Kentucky. He was 38. The Letcher County Coroner’s Office pronounced him dead at the scene.

    Collins lived in Whitesburg. The crash happened just before 6 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, in the Isom community of Letcher County. Kentucky State Police Post 13 in Hazard got a call about a possible deadly wreck and sent troopers and medical crews out to the road.

    Here is what troopers have pieced together so far. A 2000 Chevrolet Silverado was headed west on KY 1148. It struck Collins while he was riding. That is the early read from state police, and early reads can change.

    Police say Collins was not wearing a helmet. No autopsy will be done. Toxicology results are still pending, so those answers will take some time.

    State police haven’t said anything about the driver in the information released so far. They haven’t said whether anyone in the truck was hurt. They haven’t said whether anyone faces charges. All of that is still open.

    Detective Scott Caudill is reconstructing the crash. That means he is working to rebuild how it happened, step by step, using what was left on the road and on the vehicle.

    Very little has been shared about Collins beyond his age and his hometown. He was 38, and he lived in the same county where he died. The case remains under investigation, and police haven’t said when the reconstruction will be done.

  • Hazel Krauss, Gainesville, Florida: Reported Accident Tied to UF Leaves Questions Unanswered💔

    People in Gainesville, Florida, are grieving, and many of them are looking for answers. Reports name Hazel Krauss in connection with an accident tied to the University of Florida community.

    So far the answers are few. Her age has not been confirmed. Neither has her program of study at the school.

    The accident itself is still unclear. The date and place of the incident have yet to be confirmed. No official word from the university or local authorities has been verified either.

    That gap matters in a town like this one. The University of Florida is a public land-grant school in Gainesville, and it has a big community of students, faculty, alumni and families. When someone tied to it is lost, the pain does not stop at the campus edge. It reaches friends, classmates and anyone else who was close.

    Part of why her name is getting attention is simple. People want to know who she was and how she fit into the university.

    Until the university or local authorities speak, the best move is to share only what has been confirmed. Details about the accident, any investigation and any memorial plans should wait for an official announcement.

    Friends, classmates and others in the UF community may be hurting right now. Reaching out to them helps. So does leaving Krauss’s family and loved ones some privacy.

    There is no word yet on funeral or memorial plans. More about her life and her ties to the university has not been established.