Driver identified in fatal accident just off I-10
Published 12:00 am Monday, October 30, 2006
By KERI CHAMPION
Staff Reporter
LAPLACE-The woman who drove her car into the median and then into the water between the I-10 bridges on Oct. 22 between LaPlace and Gramercy has been identified. A three-year-old toddler girl was also a passenger in the vehicle.
The driver of the car, a 1997 Acura C30, was Latoya M. Thomas, 30, of New Orleans who was pronounced dead on the scene.
“Thomas had been traveling east on I-10 when she drove off the road and into the median coming to a stop when the car hit the water,” said Trooper Joseph Piglia, spokesperson for State Police Troop B
“The 3-year old girl is still in critical condition at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge. EMS was able to resuscitate the girl after the car had been submerged in the water for 30-40 minutes,” Piglia said.
Witnesses who saw the crash were doing their best to help Thomas and the child get out before divers arrived.
It is still unknown what caused the accident and Jeff Argrave of the Louisiana State Police Troop B continues his investigation.