Two dead after multi-vehicle crash in Walker Township, marking 3rd fatal crash in 8 days
Two people are dead and another was seriously injured following a head-on crash Wednesday afternoon in Walker Township, state police at Rockview said, in an area that has been deadly over the past eight days.
Samuel Keller, 71, was driving a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu southbound along the 2000 block of Nittany Valley Drive and drifted into oncoming traffic about 3 p.m. Wednesday, police wrote in a crash report. He crashed head-on into another driver.
Keller, of Huntingdon County, was killed in the crash, Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers wrote in a statement Thursday.
Tora Cassel, 24, of Clinton County, was transported by Bellefonte EMS to UPMC Altoona for treatment of serious injuries, police wrote. Her passenger, Brandy Butler, was also killed in the crash, Sayers wrote.
Butler, 29, of Lycoming County, and Keller each died of blunt force trauma, Sayers wrote. Their deaths were ruled accidental.
A portion of state Route 64 — a two-lane road that’s seen four people killed and three others injured in three crashes since April 19 — was closed for several hours Wednesday while police investigated. Walker Township and Pleasant Gap fire companies, Pleasant Gap and Bellefonte EMS, and Tressler’s Towing responded.
The spate of fatal crashes is rare in Centre County.
There were seven fatal crashes between 2011 and 2020 in Walker Township, according to state Department of Transportation data. That was tied for the fifth most among municipalities in Centre County.
Only five municipalities — Gregg, Potter, Rush, Spring and Walker townships — saw three or more fatal crashes in one year during that decadelong period.
A 28-year-old Mingoville woman was killed April 19 in a crash along state Route 64 near Marie Lane. A 47-year-old Bellefonte woman died Friday after a crash along the road near the intersection of Snydertown Road, less than eight miles east of Marie Lane.
This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 4:01 PM.