KOSCIUSKO COUNTY,Indiana – It was a deadly start to the weekend in Kosciusko County as two separate car crashes on Friday claimed two lives and injured five more.
Shortly before 9:00 am, emergency crews were called to the intersection of County Farm Road and County Road 600 S where they found several passengers pinned in a car that had extensive damage to the driver’s side doors. Firefighters were able to get 25-year-old Brady Shepherd, 23-year-old Latasha Ibarra and 18-year-old Madison May out of the vehicle but were unable to save the 22-year-old driver Reuben Jesse Delion, Warsaw, who died at the scene.
Witnesses say that Delion, who was westbound on CR 600 S, drove into the path of 18-year-old Nathan Jay Denna’s vehicle. Denna was taken to the hospital in fair condition while Delion’s passengers were all taken to the hospital in serious condition.
At 7:30 pm that same night, another tragedy struck in Kosciusko County, this time at the intersection of US 30 and CR 800 W. A Ford Mustang driven by 25-year-old Bert Hyde stopped at the side of the road to help victims of another crash. Hyde’s passenger, 51-year-old Donald Steward remained in the Mustang. A car driven by 29-year old Danielle Underwood rear ended the Mustang, killing Steward. He was pronounced dead at the scene and died of blunt force trauma. Underwood was also seriously hurt in the accident and was taken to a nearby hospital.