Four killed after wrong-way driver crashes into car on Morrow County highway
MOUNT GILEAD, Ohio (WCMH) -- Four people died early Sunday morning after a wrong-way driver collided head-on into another vehicle on a highway in Morrow County, Ohio.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, 32-year-old Larry Dotson was driving a Hyundai the wrong-way on Interstate 71 south just after 2:30 a.m. Inside the car with Dotson was 32-year-old Marlee Middleton. OSHP says that Dotson crashed into a Jeep head-on on I-71 south.
Both the Hyundai and Jeep overturned and caught on fire after the crash. Dotson, Middleton, and the two passengers inside the Jeep -- 31-year-old Cristal Galloso Olvera and 50-year-old Ivonne Olvera of Columbus -- were pronounced dead at the scene. The 26-year-old male driver of the Jeep was taken to an Ohio Health Hospital in Mansfield with serious injuries.
The OSHP have yet to confirm if alcohol and drugs were factors in the crash but did say that both Dotson and Middleton were not wearing seatbelts. The driver of the Jeep was wearing a seatbelt while authorities could not confirm if the passengers were wearing seatbelts.
Dotson has faced numerous charges related to reckless driving and drug usage, according to Stark County Municipal Court records. In 2018, he was sentenced to four years in jail after being charged with possessing cocaine. Dotson had been charged as recently as June 2023.
The Mount Gilead Post of the OSHP is continuing to investigate the crash.