Police say that five people are dead after a crash in Clermont County early Sunday morning.
It happened on State Route 28, near Edenton Pleasant Plain Road, at approximately 1:43 a.m.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol is leading the investigation and says two vehicles, a 2005 Chrysler 300 and a 2007 Subaru Legacy, were involved.
The deceased victims in the Chrysler were identified as Mathew Penny, 25, Chloe Love, 19, and Dezmen Jernigan, 18. Meanwhile, the deceased victims from the Subaru were identified as Dustin McDole, 43, and Andrea Iery, 42.
Penny was driving the Chrysler during the crash, while McDole was driving the Subaru.
All five were pronounced dead on scene by the Clermont County Coroner’s Office.
An additional occupant of Penny’s Chrysler, Ayden Taylor, 18, survived the crash but was rushed to University of Cincinnati Medical Center with what police are calling “life-threatening injuries.”
Police say that Penny struck McDole’s vehicle as McDole was attempting to cross State Route 28 on Edenton Pleasant Plain Road. Penny was traveling northeast on State Route 28.
Both vehicles upon impact then traveled off the north side of the roadway into a nearby ditch.
Police say that both McDole and Iery were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.
Police did not say anything about whether any of the remaining four people involved in the crash were wearing seatbelts.
In addition to Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Goshen Police Department, Goshen Township Fire & EMS, Warren County EMS, Loveland-Symmes Township EMS, and the Clermont County Coroner’s Office all responded to the scene Sunday morning.
Kenneth May, who lives on Edenton Pleasant Plain Road next to the intersection, says that he was standing on his porch when he witnessed the crash.
“The car that was going north passed my house at a high rate of speed,” May said. “And I just kinda watched it to see if it was going to stop, and it was like a Hollywood movie. I mean, it was like it was scripted. They hit the other car — a loud explosion — and that’s about it.”
