A 10-year-old girl is dead and two other people hurt as the result of a crash along Interstate 57 at Champaign Thursday afternoon. Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup has identified the victim as 10-year-old Caitlin Conner of Camargo, Illinois.
Illinois State Police say the girl was a passenger in a vehicle being operated by 58-year-old Debra Conner of Mattoon. Debra Conner and another occupant of that vehicle were taken to a hospital for treatment of what were described as non-life threatening injuries.
State Police say their preliminary investigation found that a vehicle driven by 37-year-old Steven Kruse, also from Mattoon, crashed into the rear of the Conner unit. The impact caused Conner’s vehicle to crash into a semi tractor trailer being driven by 20-year-old John Scholes of Charleston. Troopers say the Conner and Scholes vehicles were traveling slowly or were stopped along the interstate when the crash occurred.
Troopers say Kruse was distracted inside his vehicle when he crashed into the Conner unit. An Illinois State Police Traffic Crash Reconstruction Unit responded and processed the scene. The crash occurred just before 4:00 p.m. and closed the southbound lanes of Interstate 57 in that area for hours.
