Breakdown May Have Contributed to Fatal Crash

A witness who saw the crash last week that gave investigators information that indicates the victims' car may have broken down, according to the Marietta Times.

Maliyah Jones, 11, and her mother, 38-year-old Malaka Jones, both of Solon, were killed April 18 when a tanker truck struck their stationary car on U.S. 77 on the bridge crossing the Ohio River at the border with West Virginia. Also killed was Sherita Hogans, 29, of Cleveland. 

Maliyah Jones was a at Orchard Middle School.

Sgt. Brett Pickens with the Wood County Crash Team said the witness' report shows the vehicle may have had a faulty alternator, perhaps causing it to stall on the bridge.

"The truck driver believed there was no tail lights on the vehicle, but the witness believed the car did have tail lights and headlights, but stated that they were very dim," Pickens told the newspaper. "That might indicate there was an alternator problem with the car, but we may never know for sure. "