Police Identify 5 People Killed In Middleboro Wrong-Way Crash
MIDDLEBORO (CBS) – Massachusetts State Police identified all five people who were killed Monday morning in a crash involving a wrong-way driver on Interstate 495 in Middleboro.
Police say 31-year-old Fall River resident Valantein Burson was the driver of a 2011 Infiniti G37 that was operating southbound on the northbound side of I-495 when she slammed head-on into a 2003 Mercury Sable driven by Kraig Diggs.
Diggs, a 20-year-old who was attending Anna Maria College studying fire science, was killed along with three other Massachusetts college students who were in the car with him.
Fellow Anna Maria student Jordan Galvin-Jutras, 19, was also killed in the crash along with Jordan Fisher, 19, and Cory Licata, 18, both who were attending Becker College in Worcester.
Galvin-Jutras, Fisher, and Diggs were all cousins. Along with Licata, their friend, they were all headed back to school.
At the Centerville Fire Department, where Galvin-Jutras had spent an entire year volunteering four days a week, the flag was lowered to half staff as members grieved his loss.
"When folks say that he was a good kid, he was," said Centerville Fire Chief Michael Winn. "He was very respectful, he was very polite. He had a huge smile that would light up every room, and a fantastic sense of humor."
Kip Diggs, Kraig's father, told WBZ-TV's Anna Meiler that his son was a blessing.
"He made me happy," he said. "He was working to excel for himself the best he could be, and that's all I could ever ask."
Rodney Fisher said his son Jordan was a student at Becker College who loved basketball and life.
"Anybody that met him would tell you the same thing, he was a giving person, a loving person, and I miss him," he said.
Police are still investigating how and why Burson was driving the wrong way on the highway.