MASON COUNTY, Mich. — A Pentwater woman is dead after being hit by a pickup while checking on the occupants of another vehicle that had crashed nearby, according to the Mason County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said at 8:21 p.m. on Wednesday emergency crews were dispatched to a crash in the median of the US-31 freeway near the Ludington Rest Area in Summit Township.
When deputies arrived, they said they found two heavily damaged vehicles in the median and a third vehicle that wasn't involved in the crash parked on the west shoulder of southbound US-31.
Two injured pedestrians were found in the median after deputies said they were hit while outside the vehicles.
One of the pedestrians, a 35-year-old Pentwater woman, was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. The Mason County Sheriff's Office said Latoya Marie Smith was the Good Samaritan who was killed.
Preliminary findings by crash re-constructionists with the MCSO indicate a silver Pontiac G6 was traveling southbound on US-31 and lost control, spinning out and ending up in the median.
The investigation showed a second vehicle approached the scene and pulled over to the southbound shoulder of the freeway. The two occupants of the vehicle then got out to check on the people in the Pontiac.
A third vehicle, a 2021 GMC pickup driven by a 37-year-old Shelby man, approached the scene traveling southbound on US-31. According to the investigation, the pickup driver also lost control and entered the median, hitting the two good Samaritans and then the Pontiac.
Deputies said the roadway was reported to have been wet with scattered slippery patches.
The two occupants of the Pontiac, the second pedestrian and the pickup truck driver were all taken to the hospital with varying levels of injuries.
The crash is still under investigation by MCSO.
