Two people have been charged with murder in a DUI crash that killed a juvenile in Whitley County.
Kentucky State Police was notified by Whitley County Dispatch shortly after midnight Thursday morning of a fatal accident involving two vehicles on I-75 south near the 17-mile marker.
State police said the preliminary investigation indicated that a 2017 Ford Edge, being driven by 34-year-old Matthew Paul Croley, of Corbin, or 22-year-old Jayna Ann Vorwerk, of Williamsburg, was traveling south on I-75 when their vehicle struck a 1996 GEO Tracker, being driven by 25-year-old Alexis Brianna Flores, of Flat Lick (Knox. Co.).
Flores was extricated from the GEO and airlifted to the University of Tennessee Medical Center with “severe injuries,” police said. Three juvenile passengers in the Geo were transported to Baptist Health Corbin with non-life-threatening injuries, while another juvenile passenger, who was ejected from the Tracker, was pronounced deceased at the scene by the Whitley County Coroner’s Office.
“Alcohol is a contributing factor in this investigation,” according to state police.
Croley and Vorwerk were charged with murder, first-degree assault, first-degree wanton endangerment, and DUI and lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center on $1 million cash bonds.
The ongoing investigation is being conducted by Trooper Corey Jones.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
