Witness Describes Moments Leading Up To Head-On OKC Crash, Killing 4

Four people were killed on Interstate 40 near the Oklahoma City Boulevard exit and May Avenue, when a wrong-way driver in a pickup truck slammed into a car.

Friday, March 1st 2019, 7:01 pm

By: Clayton Cummins

Witness Describes Moments Leading Up To Head-On OKC Crash, Killing 4

A devastating start to the day on one of the metro’s most traveled interstates. Four people were killed on Interstate 40 near the Oklahoma City Boulevard exit and May Avenue, when a wrong-way driver in a pickup truck slammed into a car.

It was around 2 a.m. when dispatchers began receiving 911 calls. When first responders arrived on scene, four people were pronounced dead.

Nina Carpitcher, 42, was driving the 2009 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck with Raymond Butler, 48, as a passenger.

Faith Mahan, 36, was driving a 2005 Hyundai Sonata with Makayla Mahan, 23, as a passenger.

Demetrius Thomas was on his way home from work early Friday. After seeing a driver going the wrong way on eastbound I-40, he and others acted quickly.

“Everybody moved over to the side,” said Thomas “(The pickup driver) was going no more than 80 to 90 miles per hour, we were super shocked about what was going on.”

Thomas says it appears the pickup truck, driven by Carpitcher, entered I-40 going the wrong way at the Shields Boulevard exit.

“It could have been us and I thought about my family and my children, that could of been the last time they would see me alive,” said Thomas. “We've got to be alert all the time, because things happen.”

Safety became a concern as emergency crews went to work.

“We moved the vehicles to another location to where the fire department would have a safe place to extricate all of the victims, and then we were able to get the roadway clear of debris,” said Captain Ronnie Hampton of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Traffic Homicide Unit.

Traffic has since returned to normal but for families involved, normal will be a hard thing to come by.

“If the families are watching, I just want to be praying for them,” Thomas said. “It is very unfortunate that it happened, it could have been anybody.”

Police are working to figure out what led up to the crash.

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