A Pennsylvania teen and a North Carolina man were killed while four others were injured in a crash involving two vehicles in Delaware in which one of the drivers may have been under the influence, investigators said.
On Sunday, Oct. 6, around 1:30 a.m., a 2016 Nissan Rogue was traveling southbound on Sussex Highway in Seaford, Delaware. At the same time, a 2005 Honda Pilot was traveling northbound on the road and went into the path of the Nissan, Delaware State Police said.
The two vehicles then collided.
Two passengers inside the Rogue, 22-year-old Eric Staley, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and 18-year-old Makayla Belton, 18, of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, were killed in the crash.
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The driver of the Rogue, a 22-year-old man from Washington, D.C., and another passenger, an 18-year-old woman from Bethesda, Maryland, were both taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The driver of the Pilot, a 24-year-old man, and his passenger, a 40-year-old man, both from Georgetown, Delaware, were also taken to the hospital with serious injuries. State police said “impairment was suspected to be a factor” in the crash though they did not go into further details.
The road was closed for around three hours at the scene of the crash before it was later reopened.
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The University of Maryland released a statement stating that four of the victims involved in the crash were students there.
"Early this morning a car accident tragically claimed the lives of two University of Maryland Eastern Shore students and caused two others to have emergency surgery," University of Maryland President Heidi Anderson said.
Belton was a first-year student at the school while Staley was a third-year unenrolled student. The 22-year-old from Washington D.C. was a junior and the 18-year-old from Bethesda, Md. was also a first-year student.
Delaware State Police continue to investigate. If you have any information on the crash, please call Master Corporal K. Argo at 302-703-3264. You can also send a private Facebook message to Delaware State Police or call Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-847-3333.
Anyone who was a victim of a crime, witness of a crime, or lost a loved one to a sudden death, can contact the Delaware State Police Victim Services Unit on their website, by calling 1-800-VICTIM-1 (1-800-842-8461) or by emailing them at DSP_VictimServicesMail@delaware.gov.
