A Thursday morning commute on Illinois Route 173 in Wadsworth turned deadly when a car carrying two Stoughton, Wisconsin, residents collided head-on with a semi-truck, killing both people in the car and injuring a third driver.
Lake County deputies and Newport Township firefighters arrived just before 8 a.m. to find a heavily damaged 2009 Acura and a Freightliner semi-truck that had crashed on the undivided stretch of highway. Both people in the Acura were pronounced dead at the scene. A Honda minivan that became part of the wreck was later towed from the site, and its driver was hospitalized with injuries described as non-life-threatening. The semi-truck driver was not hurt and is cooperating with investigators.
How the crash unfolded
Investigators say the Acura, driven eastbound by 51-year-old Kelly Wooten, drifted into the westbound lane of Route 173 and into the path of a Freightliner semi-truck hauling roughly 35,000 pounds. The impact was a direct head-on collision. Wooten died at the scene, along with passenger 45-year-old Jacklyn Bradley.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office identified both victims and reported that preliminary autopsy results showed they died from blunt-force injuries, according to Fox47.
The third vehicle was struck in response.
After the initial collision between the Acura and the semi, an eastbound Honda minivan driven by a 54-year-old woman from Salem, Wisconsin, hit the wrecked Acura. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where her injuries were described as non-life-threatening…