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DAYTON — Two young people died early Saturday morning when a suspected drunken driver, reportedly going more than 100 mph, ran into their car at the Wayne and Wilmington avenues junction at about 1:45 a.m.
Dayton police are investigating the crash that killed Corey Cooper, 18, of Dayton and Christina Jackson, 20, of Riverside. Jackson, who was driving, was pronounced dead at the scene while Cooper was pronounced dead a short time later at the hospital. Both died of multiple blunt-force traumas.
Jackson was a Carroll High School graduate and Cooper was a senior this year at the school.
More than 400 students attended a memorial service for Cooper and Jackson at Carroll on Saturday, according to principal Matt Sableski. Guidance counselors and campus ministers will be available for students on Monday. Alter High School has also made counselors available.
Sableski said the service was attended by the “vast majority” of this year’s senior class, as well as many members of the junior class and family members.
Witnesses told WHIO-TV that the driver who caused the crash was driving more than 100 mph . “I’ve never seen in my life an accident this violent,” said eyewitness Jordan Seals.
Dayton police say 29-year-old Robert Finkley from Florida will be charged with two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and a count of aggravated vehicular assault. He was released from Miami Valley Hospital to the Montgomery County jail late Saturday.
A synopsis of a police report said Finkley was southbound on Wayne Avenue and collided with the driver’s side door of Jackson’s car. The impact sent her car up in the air where it landed on top of the new three-foot brick wall in front of 10 Wilmington Place. Both drivers were trapped, with Jackson being declared dead. Cooper was ejected and later declared dead.
An impromptu memorial was placed at the intersection. A cross, cards, balloons and flowers were placed next to displaced concrete blocks, broken glass and other crash debris.
Friends and acquaintances of both people flooded social media with messages.
“You were the one guy to always live life to the fullest,” one person posted about Cooper.
Another wrote: “R.I.P. Christina Jackson, you were the best person in the entire world and I love you.”
Staff writer Thomas Gnau contributed to this report.
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