An early morning crash on I-69 in the construction zone has killed two Reith Riley employees’ that were preparing to finish their overnight shift.
The Reith Riley construction workers are contract workers for the Indiana Department of Transportation and are working on the road construction project on I-69.
This morning at 5:42 a.m., Indiana State Police troopers responded to I-69 SB at the 201.4 mm to the report of a personal injury crash.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that Reith Riley construction workers were completing their overnight shift and were removing cones from the blocked SB left lane of I-69. The arrow board, still in operation and directing traffic to the right, had been hooked up to a utility truck so it could be removed from the highway when all the cones had been removed.
A SB 1996 Ford pickup truck driven by Jordan Stafford, 22, of Fortville, failed to move from the left lane and struck the directional arrow board sign and the two construction workers. The pickup continued around the truck hooked to the arrow board and came to rest head on into the left lane concrete barrier.
Stafford was extracted from the pickup and transported to Methodist Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The two construction workers, Kenneth DuersonJr, 49, of Indianapolis and Coty Demoss, 24, of Noblesville, were pronounced deceased at the scene by the Marion County Coroner’s Office.
Alcohol is not believed to be a contributing factor in the crash, however this is an ongoing investigation and authorities will be reviewing toxicology reports when the results are completed.
When the crash report is completed and toxicology results obtained, the information will be forwarded to the Marion County Prosecutors Office for review of possible charges.
