A Sunday evening drive in rural Morrow County turned deadly when a two-vehicle collision in Lincoln Township claimed the lives of a 27-year-old Mount Gilead man and a 10-year-old girl from Marengo, authorities said. The crash happened on County Road 25 near State Route 61 and involved a Jeep Liberty and a GMC Sierra.
According to ABC6, the Ohio State Highway Patrol reported that 27-year-old Skylar Beveridge was driving the Jeep eastbound when the vehicle crossed left of center and was struck on the passenger side by a westbound GMC Sierra driven by 18-year-old Brody Vance of Marion. Troopers said the Jeep came to rest on the north side of the roadway and the GMC on the south. Vance was taken to Riverside Methodist Hospital with serious injuries, while Beveridge was transported to Morrow County Hospital and died a short time later. A 10-year-old female passenger in the Jeep died at the scene, and investigators said the Jeep’s occupants were not wearing seat belts.
Why Seat Belts Matter
Federal traffic data show that a significant share of child passengers killed in crashes are not restrained, and that using proper restraints cuts the risk of death and serious injury. In 2023 roughly 43% of children 14 and younger who died in passenger vehicles were unrestrained, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s traffic-safety site. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that correctly used child restraints can sharply reduce the risk of a fatal injury.
What Officials Said
Troopers from the Mount Gilead Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol provided their account of the crash, including the drivers’ identities, seating and restraint information, and the immediate hospital transports, to ABC6.
