Head-on crash kills husband, injures wife on their way to a laundromat
Note: Earlier versions of this story included an inaccurate headline.
PEMBERTON TWP. – A local couple’s trip to a laundromat ended in tragedy with a deadly traffic accident here.
Richard Willitts, 56, died and his wife, Laurie Procopio-Willitts, 57, was critically injured in a head-on collision on Route 70 on the night of Dec. 29, according to Pemberton Township police.
The car’s driver, 49-year-old Diana Milelli of Marlton, also was critically injured.
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The accident occurred when Milelli’s vehicle crossed the center line and struck the couple’s pickup truck around 11:30 p.m., a police account said.
The Willittses, the parents of four children, were on their way to a laundromat because the washing machine at their Browns Mills home was broken, says a GoFundMe appeal.
They were going later at night to avoid crowds, says the appeal, which seeks contributions for funeral and medical costs.
The couple’s children “are devastated on the loss of their father and watching their mother endure such traumatic injuries,” wrote Linda Batastini-Farnoly, the sister of Laurie Procopio-Willitts.
“They struggled financially, and I am sure she will never be able to work again after seeing all the injuries she has sustained,” she said.
Richard Willitts, the pickup truck’s driver, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash near mile marker 32.5.
His wife and Milleli were taken to Cooper University Hospital, Camden.
Anyone with information about the accident is asked to call Pemberton Township police at 609-894-3310.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Richard Willitts pronounced dead at the scene of Route 70 crash
