Toxicology reports released show the drivers of two vehicles involved in the crash that killed four Jackson County teens Aug. 25 were not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, police said Monday.
Jackson County Sheriff Mike Carothers said the reports showed no substances were found in samples taken from Elizabeth Watson, 24, and Cara Selby, 37, both of Seymour.
Watson was the driver of a 2018 Chevrolet Traverse that crashed into a stalled Chevrolet Suburban on State Road 258 on the east side of Cortland.
The four teens who perished in that wreck along four other teens were pushing the disabled vehicle back to Selby’s home less than a block away.
The youths who died in the incident were Brownstown Central High School students, Brittany Watson, 15, and Nevaeh Law, 14, and Seymour High School students Jenna Helton, 14, and Martin Martinez, 16. Selby and Watson were not hospitalized after the incident.
The four injured teens were Allerika Henline, 15, of Brownstown; Victoria Valdivia, 15, and Courtney Arthur, 14, of Seymour; and Victoria Burchard, 15, of Medora. Starlit Watson, 12, of Brownstown, who was in the Suburban with Selby at the time the crash occurred, also was injured and hospitalized.
The teens had been attending Selby’s daughter’s birthday party that evening.
Carothers said police are still waiting on cellphone records to determine if they were used during the crash.
Police have listed the primary cause of the accident as Selby’s vehicle being in the roadway.
Jordan Richart is a staff writer for The Tribune of Seymour, a sister publication of The Republic.
