Feb. 9 (UPI) -- A 98-year-old man driving the wrong way down a Florida highway killed two teenage girls on Tuesday, police said.
Walter Roney of Dearborn, Mich. was driving an RV with the lights off at 6:53 p.m. going westbound in the eastbound lane when he ran head on into a Chevrolet Silverado, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Santia Myriah Feketa, 17, and Britney Lee Poindexter, 16, both died in the crash.
"If they were driving eastbound they're not expecting a vehicle to be coming the wrong way especially not having headlights illuminated, they may have not seen that vehicle until it was to late," Sgt. Raymond Stuhr told WPBF-TV.
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Roney suffered serious injuries and is in critical condition.
Carolyn Elizabeth-Evans Burns, 75, was in the passenger seat when Roney had the wheel. She told police that he seemed alert before the crash.
"She let Roney know that it was approximately 89 more miles to get to Port Charlotte, she whispered that in his ear," Stuhr said. "He replied with an okay and then she sat in the front passenger seat and then the last thing she remembered is seeing headlights and then the crash occurred."
Families and friends mourned the two girls by placing flowers at the accident site.
Feketa was in her first semester in college working toward her bachelor's degree with goals of becoming a kindergarten teacher, TC Palm reported.
Poindexter was a high school junior and friends described her as "the sunshine for everyone."
"No matter what happened to her, no matter what was happening to you she would make the room light up," said 18-year-old Avery Tomlinson.
