The driver who crashed his car last month, causing his own death and the deaths of two Delaware boys, was intoxicated, state troopers say.
Sgt. Randall Skaggs, an investigator for the Ohio State Highway Patrol post in Delaware, said Thursday that blood tests revealed that the driver, Darthel Jones, 25, of Delaware, had a blood-alcohol content level of .190, more than twice the legal limit of .08 at the time of the crash.
Jones failed to negotiate a turn on State Route 203 near Norton Road in Radnor Township the morning of June 20 and his vehicle struck a tree.
Skaggs said troopers have not yet been able to interview the crash’s sole survivor, passenger Kristen DeLong, 35, of Delaware. Skaggs said troopers would likely speak with her next week.
OSU Wexner Medical Center staff confirmed Thursday that DeLong was in the hospital surgical and intensive care unit and classified her condition as “serious.” She had been listed in critical condition since the crash until earlier this week. DeLong has been at OSU Wexner since the crash.
DeLong’s sons, Seth DeLong, 14, and his younger brother, Trent Curran, 12, were also passengers in Jones’ vehicle and were killed.
Jones and Curran were pronounced dead at the scene when troopers arrived around 1:30 a.m. but Seth DeLong was not found until hours later — after troopers learned he had been with his mother when the crash occurred. Seth DeLong’s body was found in a flooded soybean field.
State troopers said Jones was driving at an unsafe speed when his car went off the right side of the road and struck a tree. Troopers had detected an odor of alcohol on Jones and found several empty alcohol containers in the car but could not be sure alcohol was involved until test results came back.