Route 113 Multiple Crash Update

NEWARK — After piecing together clues in a horrific head-on collision on Route 113 Monday night, police described the accident as a violent, brutal wreck, with a compact car “catapulting upward” when it struck an oncoming SUV.

Maryland State Police said three adults and a two-year-old child died in the accident near the intersection of Langmaid Road and Route 113. They were in a Nissan Cube being driven northbound on Route 113 by Carmelo Dominguez, 53, of the Bronx, N.Y., who was one of the four people killed. Also killed in the crash were his wife, Evelyn E. Morales, 48; his daughter, Natasha E. Dominguez, 23; and his grandson, Jose Dominguez, 2.

Three other family members who were in the same car were injured, police said: a daughter, Christina A. Dominguez, 25, and two grandchildren, four-year-old Yasmine Dominguez-Astacio and nine-year-old Christina Gonzalez. The three were taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

In all, police said, seven people were in the Cube, a five-passenger slab-sided compact car, as Dominguez drove it back from Virginia Beach, where they had been visiting family. “It does not appear that anyone in the vehicle was using seat belts or in child safety seats,” police said in a statement.

Drivers of two other cars involved in the wreck were also injured, police said. Mary M. Jones, 41, of the 6700 block of Lenape Place, Snow Hill, was taken to PRMC in Salisbury. Daniel H. Nelson, 23, of Mt. Holley, N.J. was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

Describing how they believe the accident happened, police said witnesses told them the Cube was traveling fast, passing other cars in no-passing zones. Just before the crash, police said, Dominguez attempted to pass a 2000 Peterbilt truck tractor pulling a trailer driven by Leroy Trader, 54, of New Church, Va., who would not be injured in the accident.

While trying to pass the truck in a no-passing zone, police said, the Cube struck a southbound Honda CRV driven by Jones. The crash “caused the Nissan to catapult upward and impact the side of the trailer being pulled by the truck tractor,” MSP said.
The Cube turned over in the air and landed on top of a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta driven by Nelson, police said. The Cube and the Jetta careened off the road.

“The preliminary findings indicate the crash was caused by speed, improper passing, and aggressive driving. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor,” police said.

The state has undertaken public works projects to divide the highway with a median to the north and the south of Langmaid Road, but that part of Route 113 remains an undivided highway with one lane in each direction.

The road was closed for seven hours while police and rescuers dealt with the crash, MSP said.

All of the family members lived at the same address in the 800 block of Macey Plaza in the Bronx, N.Y., police said.

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