Police Seek Witnesses In Crash That Killed Entire Family
QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) -- A horrifying crash killed an entire family, including a pregnant woman and two young children. Five people died when their car collided with a tractor trailer in Queen Anne's County Saturday. Now state police are asking for the public's help.
Meghan McCorkell has more on the investigation.
That family was on their way to a baby shower in Baltimore when the crash happened.
A baby bottle and bows were part of a custom gift basket Lisa Phillips will never get to give to her friend.
"The family truly needs all of our prayers," Phillips said.
Zarissa Ayres, eight months pregnant, was driving to her baby shower in Baltimore with her sister Regina, Regina's boyfriend Travis Stratton and their two-month-old son and seven-year-old daughter. They were coming from Greenbush, Virginia, on the Eastern Shore. The family was driving along Route 50 in Wye mills when a tractor trailer smashed into the passenger's side of their car.
"Driving it across the westbound lanes, then the eastbound lanes of Route 50 onto the shoulder, at which time the tractor trailer appeared to roll over the vehicle," said Lt. Greg Shipley, Maryland State Police.
The entire family was killed.
Police are now trying to figure out how it happened.
"Someone had a red light; someone had a green light. One of the primary questions at the top of investigators' lists right now is who had a red light," Shipley said.
The State Highway Administration has now put up a sign near the crash scene asking witnesses to come forward with information.
Now, instead of celebrating a baby shower, Phillips is looking for a way to honor her friend, Zarissa, who had just received a master's degree.
"I'm going to work with my school, my undergraduate school, to provide a book scholarship in her name," Phillips said.
So she and her unborn child are never forgotten.
A memorial service for the family will be held Saturday morning at a local high school on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
The driver of the tractor trailer has been released from Shock Trauma.
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