An 18-year-old Kentucky driver is facing multiple charges after a deadly multi-vehicle crash on I-24 West near Old Hickory Boulevard Monday night left one person dead and several others injured.
According to investigators, Zachary Abbott, 18, of Trenton, Kentucky, was driving a 2005 GMC Yukon around 10:20 p.m. when he attempted to change lanes to pass traffic. After being unable to do so, he moved onto the right shoulder and crashed into an abandoned flatbed tow truck.
The impact caused the passenger side of the Yukon to strike the rear of the tow truck while also colliding with a 2018 Jeep Wrangler. The Jeep spun into two other vehicles before coming to rest facing the wrong direction in the roadway. A Nissan Sentra then crashed head-on into the Jeep, and a Toyota Camry sideswiped it while trying to avoid the wreck.
Abbott’s front-seat passenger, 18-year-old Talon Sewell, was ejected from the SUV and died at the scene.
Abbott and another passenger in the Yukon were taken to Skyline Medical Center with minor injuries. The driver of the Jeep Wrangler and her four children, ages 12 to 15, also suffered minor injuries and were treated and released.
Police said responding officers smelled alcohol on Abbott’s breath and observed signs of impairment. He has been charged with vehicular homicide by intoxication and ten counts of reckless endangerment and remains jailed on a $100,000 bond.