BOGALUSA, La. -- State police are investigating two fatal car crashes involving 18-wheelers that happened Saturday.
One crash happened around 7 p.m. in Tangipahoa Parish on LA 10. According to Nick Manale, a Louisiana State Police Troop L spokesman, a car with six passengers made a left turn after leaving a gas station, putting it directly into the path of an 18 wheeler.
The 18 wheeler, driven by 58-year-old Sidney Hill, hit the back of the car on the driver’s side door, where 17-year-old Ebony Williams was sitting. Manale said Williams was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The other five passengers in the car – the driver, 22-year-old LInda Williams, 19-year-old Mary Williams, 26-year-old Roshonda Tobias and two juveniles – were not injured in the crash. Manale said none of those in the car were wearing a seatbelt.
While Ebony Williams is undergoing a blood sample test, deputies believe she was not under the influence of alcohol. She was charged with failure to yield from a private drive and negligent homicide and booked at the Tangipahoa Parish Jail in Amite.
Hill was not injured in the crash, and he passed a breathalyzer test.
The other crash happened on Poole Bluff Road in Washington Parish around 4:20 p.m.
Manale said 43-year-old Billy Brewer was turning left on LA 21 while driving a pickup truck when an 18 wheeler hit his passenger side door.
Brewer and a juvenile who was driving in the front seat were transferred to the hospital, where Brewer was pronounced dead. The juvenile is still in the hospital. Neither were wearing seat belts, Manale said.
The driver of the 18 wheeler, 29-year-old John Coleman, was wearing a seat belt and was not injured in the crash.
Alcohol is not expected to be a factor in the crash.
