Police identify victim in I-94 rollover accident
The Michigan State Police have released the names from Tuesday night’s fatal rollover accident on Interstate 94 near Chelsea.
Jeremy Newsome, 17, of Jackson died when he was thrown from the vehicle. He was sitting in the back seat on the passenger side.
The driver of the vehicle, 23-year-old Jessica Hafner of Ypsilanti, was also ejected from the vehicle, suffering critical injuries. Police did not have an update on her current medical status Wednesday.
Also in the vehicle were Samuel Cannon, 28, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, and 1-year-old Darwin Hafner, who was belted in a child safety seat in the center of the backseat.
According to Sgt. Mark Thompson of the state police, the baby was the only person buckled in.
When troopers arrived at the scene where the vehicle was rolled over, the 1-year-old “was hanging upside down,” Thompson said.
Cannon and Darwin Hafner were not seriously injured.
The crash occurred at about 8:50 p.m.
Thompson said no charges have been brought against Jessica Hafner, who steered the car onto the left shoulder to pass other vehicles before the accident.
“The investigation is ongoing,” he said.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
julieswhimsies
Fri, May 18, 2012 : 10:30 p.m.
Delete my comment again. I am not blaming the victim here. My intention is to inform those who do not already know, that passing on the berm is illegal. Anyone who does this can eventually be charged with vehicular manslaughter. This is a tragedy all around, for the victim who died, and the victims who survived, and everyone's friends and families. I hope the survivors are healing well.
Luke Bromberg
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 3:03 p.m.
this is whuy you should wear a seatbelt in a car period.
Evergreen
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 2:56 p.m.
julieswhimsies. I imagine they were passing on the shoulder because so many people use the passing lane as their personal lane and don't move over for faster vehicles. I think we could balance the state budget if we ticketed people who did not signal turns, or move to a right lane when someone wanted to pass. Poor driving manners may have resulted in this death, my estimation.
GoNavy
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 6:03 p.m.
Alaina- Let me re-iterate what Evergreen said, in case you missed it: STAY TO THE RIGHT. I say that because usually, the "just be careful around me" commentary emanates from individuals who - as Evergreen suggested - use the left lane as their own personal lane.
Alaina
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 4:28 p.m.
That's the type of thinking that will get you in an 'accident', and could potentially kill people....you know, like in this article. Yes, some drivers should move to the right, but if they don't- DRIVE SAFELY! Your car is capable of killing you and those around you, in the blink of an eye. No amount of time-saving is worth your life. The speed limit is already 70 miles per hour- Just Chill.
J-smith
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 1:36 p.m.
TommyJ 10:27 PM on 5/14/2012 The police could care less if you're wearing your seat belt. It's all a revenue stream for the cops and a total rip off for motorists. Just goes to show, cops don't care about 'Protecting and Serving' they're just out to write tickets and make $$ for the state.
julieswhimsies
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 11:18 p.m.
You must not know any police officers. Yeah. They do care. We are all lucky to have them.
clownfish
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 12:58 p.m.
Remember last week when people were complaining about seat belt enforcement?
Silly Sally
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 11:31 a.m.
How sad, another kid dead and one hurt. Why - No seat belts worn. Why, especially if you are not going to be driving like your grandparents. I hope that all area high schools use this as a "teaching moment"
julieswhimsies
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 11:30 p.m.
"driving like your grandparents". I, my husband, and most of my friends are grandparents. I have never been in an accident, caused one,...never been ticketed, or warned. I've never even had a parking ticket. Making generalizations like that is simply repugnant and ill-informed.
ronda
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 2:22 a.m.
I Know the 17 teen year old. He was my son's bestfreind. they was together 24/7. i just don't understand why Jeremy didn't buckl up. He never went with out in when he was with us. Jeremy you will be miss aways. we love and miss you kid.
julieswhimsies
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 11:14 p.m.
I am so, so sorry.
Craig Lounsbury
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 10:51 a.m.
sorry for your sons loss.
cbirm
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 12:28 a.m.
Glad the baby was fine. I wonder what the hurry was. Was it worth a life I wonder?
grimmk
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 5:07 a.m.
@ Belboz - The fact that someone DID such a thing is pretty sad.
belboz
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 12:41 a.m.
The fact that someone wonders such a thing is pretty sad.
julieswhimsies
Wed, May 16, 2012 : 9:36 p.m.
Did the driver attempt to pass on the outside shoulder? That makes this accident even more tragic.
GoNavy
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 6:01 p.m.
Mr. Granger - "Facts aside," you make the mistake of suggesting that it is optimal to avoid an accident by deviating from your direction of travel into a totally new vector of travel. There are several reasons why this is a bad idea: 1.)You don't know what's in the new direction of travel. Simply pulling your wheel right or left to avoid what's ahead of you may put you in a place like a sidewalk, where the potential exists to exchange the life of a pedestrian for $8,000 in potential car repairs had you hit the car in front of you head on. 2.)There may not be a road to either side of you, and in general cars do not handle anywhere near their optimal level when not traveling on a paved or graded surface. In other words, you're likely to make things worse. 3.)Your car was designed for head-on collisions: your airbags, the crumple zone, the seatbelts - all designed to help safely arrest occupants' forward movement in the case of a catastrophic decline in speed (accident).
kalamityjane
Wed, May 16, 2012 : 10:33 p.m.
The article says she tried to pass on the left which would be the inside shoulder...so she squeezed between the median and another car? Why?! I'd say getting on either shoulder to pass is dangerous and not ok.
Ron Granger
Wed, May 16, 2012 : 10:27 p.m.
Why assume when you have no facts? If there is an incident ahead of you, avoiding it by driving on the shoulder may be the best choice. That hardly makes it a "pass on the outside shoulder".
grimmk
Wed, May 16, 2012 : 9:07 p.m.
I hope everyone recovers, especially the mother. I'm glad at least the baby was buckled in. But why on earth did the driver use the shoulder to pass another car?
julieswhimsies
Wed, May 16, 2012 : 8:43 p.m.
Such a tragedy. I am so glad that baby was secured in its car seat! This accident came perilously close to the farm, which is technically in Dexter, not Chelsea.