WALTON, Ky. — One interstate exit ramp in Boone County has seen two fatal crashes in 13 months, resulting in the deaths of three people.
The Boone County Sheriff’s Office responded to a deadly crash Tuesday evening on the exit ramp from I-75 to the Mary Grubbs Highway in Walton.
Investigators claim the driver of a Chevrolet Silverado crashed into a blue Honda Civic while driving up to the exit ramp. The driver of the Honda Civic, 74-year-old Stanley Cox, died at the scene. Debra Cox, 69, was also in the car and was airlifted to UC Medical Center. She is in critical condition.
Five other vehicles were involved in the chain-reaction crash.
Mikayla Mardis said she sent the sheriff’s office press release to her sister Wednesday.
“It just felt like deja vu,” she said.
Her dad, Jeff Mardis, and cousin, Autumn Ward, were killed in November 2021, when a car rear-ended them on the same exit ramp.
“For it to happen so soon again in the same spot, it just sent chills through my body,” she said.
Mardis said she had just gotten past the one-year anniversary of her father’s death when Tuesday’s crash took place.
“I feel like it’s a perception thing. It’s such a long ramp I feel like people don’t realize how fast they’re going, and how quickly they’re coming up on the traffic ahead of them. I’m not sure what the solution to that is, but it definitely needs to change in some way to make it safer for everybody,” she said.
Change could soon be coming.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet released a statement Wednesday:
“Details surrounding the cause of the incident have yet to be released. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s Six-Year Highway Plan includes a project to reconstruct the Walton Interchange. Design is currently underway.”
Mardis said she remains hopeful that change will come. She said lives depend on it.
“It’s really been emotionally hard — coming up on that one year, then just like getting past that, all of a sudden another wreck has happened. It’s really crazy. All over again,” she said.
The Boone County Sheriff’s Office will handle the crash investigation. As of Wednesday night, no charges have been filed.
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