ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – Virginia State Police have filed search warrants for video footage and driving data from inside a tractor-trailer involved in a crash on Interstate 81 that killed three people, including a 2-year-old child.
The crash occurred on Dec. 22 on I-81 northbound in Roanoke County around 11 p.m. Police say the tractor-trailer ran off the right side of the road and hit a Honda Odyssey that was stopped on the right shoulder, killing three people inside the van.
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As a result, 65-year-old Lorraine Renee Williams, 49-year-old Ebony Latasha Williams, and 2-year-old Shazziyah Lesley, who was properly secured in a child safety seat, were taken to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where they later died.
Three other passengers, including a 63-year-old man, a 73-year-old man and a 10-year-old girl, were hospitalized with injuries.
The driver of the tractor-trailer, identified as 58-year-old El Hadji Ouattara, is now facing further investigation.
Search warrants filed in May with the Roanoke County Circuit Court detail that video provided by trucking company D.M. Bowman shows Ouattara appearing to nod off and veer off the road moments before the crash, according to police. Court documents also reveal that at the time of the crash, Ouattara was approaching the maximum allowable driving time under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations.
Ouattara was initially charged with reckless driving. He was later charged with involuntary manslaughter, though those charges were temporarily dropped in February.
State police are now seeking additional evidence through search warrants targeting any video footage or driving data recorded inside the tractor-trailer leading up to the crash.
Search warrants have been filed for both the trucking company, D.M. Bowman, Inc. and the fleet’s software management company, Netradyne, Inc.