Mom, 4 sons dead in fiery crash on Interstate 10 in Phoenix
A mother and her four young sons died in a fiery crash Wednesday night after their vehicle drove off an Interstate 10 overpass and fell to the freeway below, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
The driver of the vehicle has been identified as 39-year-old Durjuana Miller, along with her four boys, ages 8, 6, 3 and 3 months.
DPS Director Frank Milstead said Thursday that Miller's SUV had pulled off westbound I-10 at the 79th Avenue park-and-ride off-ramp and went through the T-intersection about 9:30 p.m. The vehicle hit the concrete barrier and vaulted end over end. It fell into the freeway median and burst into flames.
Milstead said the Isuzu Rodeo was traveling at an excessive speed and left skid marks on the road.
Investigators were still looking into the crash, he said. No information is expected back from the medical examiner for 10 days to two weeks.
"We are still in the infancy of this investigation," he said. "It’s less than 24 hours old … it’s too new today to know."
Family members are dealing with a significant loss, he said, adding that this type of accident takes a toll on the troopers as well.
"We’ll deal with those parts, the emotional pieces, and will let the investigators figure out the facts and at the end of the day hopefully we’ll have a story that is understandable," Milstead said.
“Investigators are talking to everybody. Nobody has said there is anything going on at this point in her life that would make this a realization (that it was intentional)."
Tragedy followed Durjuana Miller, who died with 4 sons in I-10 crash, to Phoenix
Tim Case, PIO on Periscope: "Director Milstead speaking about injured Trooper"