A 23-year-old Nigerian graduate living in the United States, Oluwalayomi “Layo” Fadero, died after a wrong-way driver escaping police slammed into her car in Nashville, Tennessee.
WSMV Nashville reported on Tuesday that the crash happened last Friday when the suspect, Ray Eugene Padgett, allegedly entered oncoming traffic while trying to avoid arrest.
Fadero, who had recently graduated from Fisk University, was said to be driving into her neighbourhood on Murfreesboro Pike when the suspect’s vehicle hit the driver’s side of her car, killing her instantly.
Metro Nashville Police said the fatal collision came after several earlier events that day, starting with the theft of a Ford F-250 truck from a dealership in North Nashville.
Investigators said the suspect struck the vehicle owner’s car while fleeing, and later crashed into an unmarked police SUV, prompting a pursuit that lasted around five minutes and reached speeds of about 80 miles per hour.
“At about 2:30 p.m., the suspect drove into oncoming traffic and struck the victim’s vehicle,” police authorities were quoted as saying.
The force of the crash reportedly pushed Fadero’s car roughly 100 yards into a ditch, and emergency crews pronounced her dead at the scene.
Authorities said she was an uninvolved driver with no link to the chase.
Padgett, 52, was later arrested and taken to hospital for non-life-threatening injuries before being placed in custody.
Police said he now faces several felony counts, including criminally negligent homicide, vehicular homicide by recklessness, attempted criminal homicide, and reckless endangerment.
Officials also said the suspect was on parole when the incident happened and had at least 20 previous convictions in five Tennessee counties.
Fadero had reportedly just finished her degree and was enrolled in an accelerated nursing programme at another school before she died.
“She was one of the most compassionate and kindest of people that you would’ve ever met,” her former professor, Janet Walsh, said.
Another alumna, Jessica Williams, called her death “heartbreaking,” adding that she was killed near her home.
A makeshift memorial has now been set up at the site of the crash, and counselling has been offered to students and members of the university community.
At the same time, a fundraiser launched by supporters has collected more than $13,000 to help cover funeral costs, as loved ones continue to grieve her sudden passing.
Police said the investigation into the crash and the circumstances surrounding it is still ongoing.
