COLUMBUS, Ind. — A 20-year-old woman from Madison was killed Wednesday morning in a vehicle crash that injured three others, according to the Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office. Investigators said it appeared the vehicle failed to yield at a county road intersection and was struck in the passenger side by an oncoming SUV.
Katelyn Breann Tullis was pronounced dead from traumatic neck and chest injuries at the scene of the crash at the intersection of county roads 100 South and 525 East, according to Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting.
In a statement Wednesday, Nolting said Tullis was a front seat passenger in a 2016 Ford Fusion that was northbound on 525 East and was struck by a westbound 2020 Hyundai Palisade on 100 South.
The driver of the vehicle, identified by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department as Ayden Pittman, 19, of North Vernon, was flown by medical helicopter to IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where he was being treated for major back and abdominal pain.
Sheriff’s department spokesman Sgt. Dane Duke said a crash reconstruction team concluded Pittman failed to yield at the intersection, and the vehicle was struck by the Hyundai SUV, which could not stop in time.
The driver of the SUV, Heather Baker, 52, and passenger Sydney Dietrich, 23, both of Columbus, went to Columbus Regional Hospital, Duke said. Baker complained of shoulder and abdominal pain and Dietrich was treated for lacerations.
Duke said deputies were dispatched to the crash scene at about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday. He said the investigation is ongoing, but he said the force of the crash caused the vehicle in which Tullis was a passenger to roll and come to rest on its side.
“It is unknown whether drugs or alcohol was a factor,” Duke said. “This is an ongoing investigation at this time.”
The road was closed for several hours while crash reconstructionists worked at the scene.
Nolting said Wednesday afternoon that Tullis’ next of kin had been notified.
ORIGINAL STORY
COLUMBUS, Ind. — An accident reconstruction team is investigating a fatal accident at County Road 525E and County Road 100S involving a car and SUV.
The accident scene at the intersection will be blocked off for some time as investigators determine what happened, according to the Bartholomew County Sheriff Department.
The accident was reported at 8:45 a.m., said Bartholomew County Sheriff Department spokesman Dane Duke. One fatality has been confirmed, but the identity of the victim is still being confirmed, according to investigators.
One individual was taken by Lifeline helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital and another was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
