HOPKINS, Mo. — The driver in the single-vehicle crash that killed three people Saturday, including Southwestern Community College student Chrystal N. Olerich and 2009 SWCC graduate Joshua E. Bix, was charged Tuesday.
Scott Woods, 22, of Hopkins, Mo., was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and three counts of second-degree assault.
Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White said Thursday morning these are only preliminary charges and Woods will “certainly” have more charges moving forward including an additional involuntary manslaughter charge(s). Also, a DUI charge is likely as authorities found alcohol at the scene.
According to the accident report, Woods was driving a 2003 Chevrolet extended cab pickup east on Missouri Highway 246 about a half-mile east of Hopkins when the vehicle ran off the south side of the roadway. Woods reportedly over-corrected and the vehicle went off the north side of the road.
As the truck came back onto the road, it overturned and came to rest on its wheels on the south side of the road and then caught on fire. All seven occupants of the pickup were ejected in the accident at 2:15 a.m.
Olerich and 22-year-old Benjamin T. McIntyre were pronounced dead at the scene by Nodaway County Coroner Dr. Vince Shelby. Bix of Hopkins, Mo., died on arrival at St. Francis Hospital in Maryville. Four others were injured, including Southwestern students Kaley L. Folkerts, 19, and Samantha L. Weed, 18, both of Bedford.
Weed was seriously injured and Folkerts suffered minor injuries. Folkerts was treated at St. Francis Hospital in Maryville and released two days after the accident.
Weed was taken by air ambulance from the scene to University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. On Wednesday, she was transferred to Immanuel Lutheran Hospital in Omaha, where she is in stable condition.
Olerich, 18, of Lake View was a volleyball player at Southwestern. Weed and Folkerts are also volleyball players, and Folkerts is also a member of the women’s basketball team. All three have been living on campus.
Visitation for Olerich was 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at East Sac High School gymnasium in the west-central Iowa town of Lake View. Funeral services were 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the high school.