WGNO

2 dead, 6-year-old in critical condition after speeding vehicle strikes tree in St. Bernard

MERAUX, LA – Two people are dead and a six-year-old is in critical condition after a speeding car plowed into a tree yesterday afternoon.

The crash occurred around 5:30 p.m. on LA 46 at Meraux Lane, according to the Louisiana State Police.

Forty-three-year-old David Will Jr. was killed on impact and 27-year-old Stephanie Taylor was seriously injured and later died at a hospital after the 2011 Ford Fusion Will was driving left the road and struck a tree.

The six-year-old, who was sitting in the backseat, was critically injured.

Investigators believe the child, who was wearing a seat belt, may not have been properly buckled in, and was not using a booster seat.

Will and Taylor were both wearing their seat belts.

The vehicle was traveling at an excessive rate of speed, according to police, but it has not yet been determined if intoxication was a factor.

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