14-year-old pedestrian is 110th person to die in Austin traffic accident this year, police say
Austin's record-setting death toll in city traffic rose higher last month with two more incidents that led to the deaths of two pedestrians, including a teenage girl.
Police on Friday identified 14-year-old Sterling Grace Turner-Williams as the city's 110th person killed in Austin traffic.
According to a preliminary police investigation, Turner-Williams was crossing the southbound lanes in the 2700 block of South MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1), just north of the intersection with Loop 360, on the night of Nov. 23.
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She was struck by a Ford F-150 pickup, and Austin police responded to the incident around 8:50 p.m.
"The driver remained on scene and was cooperative," police said in a statement Friday.
Turner-Williams was taken to St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, where she died about fours later at 12:40 a.m.
Police on Friday identified another pedestrian who was struck by a vehicle and died later in the hospital.
On Nov. 9, police responded just before 8 p.m. to reports of a pedestrian who had been hit by a vehicle in the 6100 block of Menchaca Road, just south of Stassney Lane in South Austin.
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According to a preliminary police investigation, Joey Wayne Edwards was in the road when he was struck by a Ford Explorer heading north in the outside lane.
The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, police said.
Edwards was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries Nov. 22. He had turned 54 just days before being struck by the SUV.
More than 30 of the fatal traffic incidents this year have led to pedestrian deaths, according to police records.
Austin police Sgt. Sandra Benningfield, who investigates fatal crashes, told the American-Statesman last month that while traffic deaths are at an all-time high this year, those involving pedestrians appear to be on par with last year.
Pedestrian deaths made up about 32% of all crashes in 2020, according to Benningfield, and this year, they make up around 30%.
Austin's death rate for fatal crashes this year, which is the ratio of deaths per 100,000 people, was up to 11.4 as of Monday.
The death rate for all of 2020, when 94 people died, was 9.77, and it was 9.15 for all of 2019, when the area had 88 fatalities.
The last time the Austin area had more than 100 fatal crashes was in 2015, when 102 deaths were reported.
Anyone with more information about the two cases can call the police investigators at 512-974-8111 or use the Crime Stoppers tip line at 512-472-8477. Tips also can be submitted through the Austin police mobile app, Austin PD, or the Crime Stoppers app.
Statesman staff writer Heather Osbourne contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin's 110th person to die in traffic is 14-year-old
