An 80-year-old West Alexandria woman was killed and her husband critically injured Sunday night when a pickup truck struck them as they stood near their parked vehicle on West Dayton Street, according to Preble County deputies. Donna Tubesing was pronounced dead at the scene, while her husband was airlifted to a Dayton-area hospital with serious injuries.
Deputies were dispatched to West Dayton Street near Voge Street in West Alexandria on Sunday after receiving a call reporting that a pickup truck had struck a parked vehicle and two pedestrians, according to WLWT. Investigators said a 2012 Ford F250 was traveling west on West Dayton Street when it struck a legally parked 2005 Cadillac Escalade. The force of that impact pushed the Escalade into a legally parked 2012 GMC Sierra pickup truck, and the two pedestrians were struck near their vehicles during the crash.
Tubesing, an 80-year-old West Alexandria resident, was pronounced dead at the scene, per the same report from the Preble County Sheriff's Office. Her husband suffered serious injuries and was transported to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, which operates Southwest Ohio's only verified Level I Trauma Center with around-the-clock surgical critical care teams for patients transferred from surrounding rural counties, according to Premier Health. The trauma center is roughly 25 miles east of West Alexandria.
Driver Taken Across State Line, Investigation Ongoing
The driver of the Ford suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to Reid Hospital in Richmond, Indiana, the report notes. That cross-border transport reflects how Preble County relies on regional medical hubs and coordinates emergency response with neighboring Wayne County, Indiana agencies along corridors like U.S. Route 35 and Interstate 70, a pattern Hoodline described in its coverage of new I-70 roundabouts near the Ohio-Indiana border.
Preble County deputies have not listed any charges in their press release, and the crash remains under investigation, the article notes. West Alexandria Police, West Alexandria Fire and EMS, and Eaton Fire & EMS all responded to the scene. Deputies suspect impaired driving was a factor in the crash, though whether formal charges or OVI citations have followed the initial investigation remains unclear.
Speeding Warning Issued Just Months Before Deadly Crash
The stretch of West Dayton Street where Tubesing died has drawn recent scrutiny from local police. In June, the West Alexandria Police Department cited a motorist for driving 57 mph in a 35 mph zone near Voge Street — the same corridor as Sunday's crash — and publicly warned that the village is a pedestrian-friendly community where high speeds near crosswalks pose life-threatening risks, according to WHIO TV.
If toxicology results confirm impairment, Ohio law gives prosecutors a path to present serious charges to a Preble County grand jury. Under Ohio Revised Code Section 2903.06, causing a fatal crash while operating a vehicle under the influence is classified as Aggravated Vehicular Homicide, a first- or second-degree felony carrying a mandatory prison term of 2 to 8 years — up to 15 years with prior OVI convictions — along with a mandatory lifetime driver's license suspension, according to the Farrish & Nicholas Law Firm. Causing serious physical harm under the influence, meanwhile, constitutes Vehicular Assault under Ohio Revised Code Section 2903.08, a third-degree felony that also carries mandatory prison time and a license suspension, per Zukerman Law.
A Rural County Confronting a Persistent Toll
Preble County has logged a steady stream of fatal traffic collisions in recent years. An Ohio State Highway Patrol fatal crash report found the county recorded 25 fatal crashes between 2022 and 2024 — 12 in 2023, 9 in 2022, and 4 in 2024 — with impaired driving identified as a contributing factor in 12 of those deaths. Separately, Ohio Crash Statistics System data show Preble County logged 826 total crashes in 2024, including 239 injury-producing crashes and four fatalities, according to Hometown Injury Lawyers.
Tubesing was described as a long-time, engaged member of the West Alexandria community, having submitted public input on village street banner placements along West Dayton Street last year. Her death adds to a run of serious traffic tragedies that have touched Preble County, including a December 2023 head-on collision on State Route 503 that killed a Preble County Sheriff's deputy and another driver. Whether village officials plan additional traffic-calming measures along West Dayton Street following Sunday's crash has not yet been announced.
