WHITLEY COUNTY, Ky. — Kentucky State Police troopers said two people have been charged with murder and driving under the influence of alcohol after two SUVs crashed on Interstate 75 near the Tennessee state line. The crash killed one juvenile, injured three other juveniles and severely injured a 25-year-old driver.
According to KSP, its London Post was notified after midnight Thursday about an injury crash involving two vehicles on southbound I-75 around the 17-mile marker in Whitley County, which is just north of the Tennessee state line.
Troopers said the preliminary investigation showed two people, identified as Matthew P. Croley and Jayna Vorwerk, were driving a Ford Edge southbound on the interstate when they hit a GEO Tracker.
The driver of the GEO, 25-year-old Alexis Flores, was entrapped in the vehicle and had to be extricated. She was flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville with severe injuries, KSP said. One of the juvenile passengers inside the GEO died after being ejected from the vehicle. The Whitley County Coroner's Office pronounced the child dead at the scene.
Three other juvenile passengers in the GEO were taken by ambulance to Baptist Health Hospital in Corbin with non-life-threatening injuries.
Troopers said they believed alcohol contributed to the crash.
KSP said the two people inside the Ford -- Croley, 33, and Vorwerk, 22 -- are facing several charges, including murder, assault, wanton endangerment, and driving under the influence.
"The ongoing investigation is being conducted by KSP Post 11 Trooper Corey Jones. He was assisted at the scene by Post 11 personnel, Kentucky State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, Williamsburg Fire Department, Corbin Fire Department, Gold Bug Fire Department, Whitley County EMS, Corbin Police Department, Williamsburg Police Department, Air Evac and the Whitley County Coroner’s Office," KSP said.
