More details released in crash that killed girl, 12, Monday on Highway 94 in El Paso County
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Colorado State Patrol said that a distracted driver caused a chain-reaction crash Monday morning that resulted in the death of a 12-year-old girl and injuries to three other people.
The CSP said that charges are likely, but have not yet been filed, against the offending driver because the crash remains under investigation; the male driver, 25, from Avondale in Pueblo County, wasn't injured.
"We're still investigating exactly what it was that distracted the driver," said Trooper Gabriel Moltrer. "There are a variety of charges he could be facing."
Moltrer provided the following details to KRDO NewsChannel 13 Tuesday:
The crash happened around 7:15 a.m. in the westbound lane of Highway 94 at the intersection of North Page Road, between Schriever Space Force Base and the town of Ellicott.
A school bus had stopped at the intersection to pick up passengers and three vehicles had stopped behind it; the driver of a Ford F-350 pickup truck slammed into the car at the back of the line, a Mazda CX-7 SUV occupied by three people from the town of Rush, 15 miles east of Ellicott.
The girl who died was sitting in the back seat of the Mazda; the male driver, 16, received moderate injuries and another female passenger, 40, was seriously hurt.
A Colorado Springs woman, 40, was driving a Nissan Xterra and received moderate injuries; the driver of a Ford F-550 pickup truck in front of the Nissan wasn't injured.
The school bus wasn't involved in the crash.
All injured parties were treated at area hospitals; the El Paso County Coroner's Office pronounced the girl dead at the scene.
Authorities hadn't released the victims' names or conditions as of Tuesday evening.
The intersection was closed for more than five hours for the investigation, before reopening at 1 p.m.
Troopers don't consider the intersection particularly dangerous; CSP data indicates one crash there in the past two years -- Tuesday's crash -- and two other serious crashes within a mile of the intersection since 2016.
