Third fatal crash within 12 hours closed Interstate 70 in east Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – All lanes and access points to Interstate 70 East were closed Monday morning after a fatal crash, the third in less than 12 hours on the east side of the city.
One person was pronounced dead after a violent crash on I-70 East, near the Interstate 270 interchange. The highway was closed from around 1 a.m. when the crash was initially reported, until around 6:45 a.m.
At that time, a woman driving a 2014 Jeep Cherokee was traveling westbound on I-70, approaching I-270 when, for reasons still under investigation, she ran off the right side of the road and struck a concrete wall. The impact caused the Jeep to cross over the westbound lanes, through the median and flipped over a guardrail onto the eastbound lanes of I-70.
The Jeep crossed into the path of a 2021 Freightliner semi-truck traveling eastbound on the highway and the two collided. The Jeep was sent to the south side of the roadway where it came to rest.
The driver of the Jeep, 27-year-old Lakayla Willis was taken to an area hospital in critical condition, but was pronounced dead at 2:32 a.m. Police did not report any other injuries.
I-70 East was closed, along with both exit ramps from I-270 North and South for approximately six-and-a-half hours.
It was the third auto fatality in les than 12 hours. A seven-year-old boy was pronounced dead after he fell out of an SUV and was run over in the Milo-Grogan area of Columbus, and one person was killed in a head-on collision on Cleveland Avenue in Minerva Park in northeast Columbus.