MARTIN TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A high school student from Portage is now the fourth person to die as a result of a wrong-way crash on US-131 from Sunday morning.
Portage Public Schools confirmed with FOX 17 that a student from Community High School, the district's alternative high school, died from her injuries. The student, identified as a 17-year-old by the Allegan County Sheriff's Office, was injured when a vehicle headed the wrong way on northbound US-131 smashed into the vehicle she was riding in.
The drivers of both vehicles, along with the front seat passenger of the victim's vehicle, died at the scene on November 2. The student and two others in the back seat were all severely injured.
Investigators determined the wrong-way driver, identified as Erin Louise Jones by investigators, had been driving south in the proper lanes before exiting at 129th Avenue and then getting on northbound US-131.
At the bottom of the on-ramp, the 38-year-old woman from Grand Rapids made a u-turn, going south in the northbound lanes.
Another driver reporter her to 911 and an officer from the Gun Lake Tribal Police tried to pull her over before the crash happened a few miles south.
Alcohol is suspected to be a contributing factor in the crash, said investigators.
In a statement, Portage Public Schools said the student's passing is a tragedy.
"We are all saddened by this news and the District has and will continue to provide counseling resources to students and staff who may be impacted," said a spokesperson.
The district also confirmed one of the other people killed in the crash was a former student at Portage Northern High School.
The Allegan County Sheriff's Office identified the driver of the victim vehicle as 18-year-old Emmanuel Browning from Kalamazoo.
The two surviving victims are both teens, according to the sheriff's office.
