Orange police say heavy rainfall contributed to a three-vehicle crash that killed two young women on Highway 62 Thursday afternoon. A third woman was seriously injured.
The victims were 18-year-old Summer Grace Nichols and 21-year-old Starr Cheyenne Jeanise of Orange County. Police said the women are related. Nichols was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Impala that was owned by Jeanise, who was in the front passenger seat.
The collision was reported at 4:20 p.m. in the 4100 block of Highway 62 North during a thunderstorm.
Officer Joshua Lemoine in the accident report said the Impala was hit head-on by a 2011 Ford Fusion. The driver of the Fusion was 21-year-old Maria Janie Medina of Orange County. She had serious injuries and was taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont by Acadian Ambulance.
Lemoine said the Impala was traveling northbound behind a 2011 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck driven by a 28-year-old Starks, Louisiana, man. A 28-year-old woman and a 3-year-old child were in the Silverado. The official report said the driver and passengers were not injured.
The report said the Ford Fusion was traveling southbound on Highway 62 and lost control “most likely due to heavy rain and its speed.” The Fusion traveled across the dividing lane into northbound traffic.
The front of the Fusion hit the left rear quarter panel of the pickup truck and then hit the Impala “head on with a front distributed impact,” Lemoine reported.
Social Media