By KERI CHAMPION

Staff Reporter

ST. JAMES- The deaths of three people made it a somber start to a holiday weekend in St. James Parish. Two separate car crashes claimed the lives of the three on parish roads Sunday.

&#8220Troop A investigated a crash involving a 1996 Jeep Cherokee, driven by Kim A. Doemer, 20, of Collinsville, Mississippe. Doemer was traveling eastward on the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 in St. James Parish. The other car, a 2003 Dodge Intrepid, was driven by Maria Roberts 35, of Baton Rouge. The stretch of interstate has no guardrails to prohibit drivers from crossing the grassy median,” said Public Information Officer for State Police Troop A, Johnnie Brown.

&#8220As the Cherokee was traveling east on the wrong side of the Interstate, the Intrepid, which was traveling on the left lane of westbound route, was struck head-on by the Cherokee. The collision caused the Jeep to spin to the right and came to rest in the median facing south and east.

&#8220Roberts who was carrying two passengers in her car at the time, sustained fatal injuries in the collision and the St. James Parish Corner’s Office pronounced her dead on the scene. The two passengers in the Intrepid, Anthony L. Roberts, 18 and Tyron Roberts, juvenile, sustained moderate injuries and were transported to St. James Hospital by Acadian Ambulance,” Brown said. Occupants of the Intrepid were wearing seatbelts.

Doemer and rear right passenger, Gary Riley, 20 of Thibodeaux received moderate injuries. They were taken to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge. Colby Fason, 20 of Collinsville, Mississippi received serious injuries and was taken to River Parishes Hospital.

Alcohol is a suspected factor in the crash and troopers are awaiting toxicology reports.

In a separate crash investigated by State Police Troop C, two men were fatally injured in a single vehicle crash.

&#8220Matthew Falgoust, 22, of Vacherie was traveling westbound on LA 3127 toward LA 20 and attempted to pass another vehicle when the truck he was driving a 1998 Chevrolet, left the road and then struck a tree,” said Rodney Hyatt, Louisiana State Troop C’s public information officer,

According to a witness statement issued to troop C, after the truck left the road, it went into a drainage canal and was partially submerged by water.

Falgoust and his front passenger, Nicholas Morvant, of Thibodeaux, sustained fatal injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene. Two other St. James residents located in the rear seat of the truck, sustained what appeared to be critical injuries and were transported to Thibodeaux Regional Medical Center.

None of the passengers in the vehicle were wearing safety belts and Trooper Coddou is continuing his investigation. It is unknown whether or not substances were a factor in the crash. Results are pending blood tests, required by the state.