Turnpike crash victims had just returned from Disney

EAST BANK, W.Va.A lifelong vacation dream turned into unspeakable tragedy in the blink of an eye.

Lisa McCormick, 43, of Knoxville, Tenn., died in a head-on collision north of the Ghent Toll Plaza in Raleigh County on Sunday. Three teenage girls in the vehicle with her remain in critical condition at Charleston Area Medical Center.

(L-R) Tori, Lisa, Carlie McCormick, and Haylie Hammettt
(From left) Tori, Lisa, Carlie McCormick, and Haylie Hammettt

McCormick was a native of East Bank and moved to Tennessee four years ago with her two younger daughters. Her oldest daughter, Catie,19, still lives in Kanawha County.

They went to Disney World and they had come back to West Virginia to visit for the weekend,” said Will Caudill, McCormick’s brother. “They came back to see Catie—she lives here and works here. They hadn’t even unpacked or anything, and then Sunday they headed back to Tennessee.”

Caudill said his oldest niece has tried to fill the void in the absence of her mother.

She’s been very strong,” said Caudill. “I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

Caudill was in Chelyan on Sunday visiting with his son who just returned home from the Marine Corps when they received word of the accident from Catie.

He learned his sister was dead and his two nieces and a third girl in the car were being flown to Charleston in critical condition. 

The wreckage of McCormick's vehicle in Raleigh County on the W.Va. Turnpike Sunday
The wreckage of McCormick’s vehicle in Raleigh County on the W.Va. Turnpike Sunday

Tori McCormick, 16, Carlie McCormick, 14, and Carlie’s classmate Haley Hammett, 14, of Knoxville, were all hospitalized in critical condition. Caudill said Carlie had undergone back surgery and appeared to be on the road to recovery, but Haley and Tori are in extremely critical condition and their status was day-to-day.

March is a hard month for our family anyway,” said Caudill. “I lost my dad March 18 a couple of years back and now my sister passes away on March 22. So it’s really been hard for my mom and I and now you add my sister to that.”

State Police on Tuesday charged Michael Herrera, 43, of Miami, Fla., with second-degree murder in the accident. He pulled over at the Ghent toll plaza and for an unexplained reason turned around and headed north in the southbound lanes before the collision with McCormick’s vehicle.

Two Internet fund-raising sites have been set up to help pay for funeral and medical expenses for the victims.





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