Newport News, VA — June 20, 2025, A child was killed and a woman was injured following a car accident that occurred at around 8:57 P.M. on I-64.
According to official reports, a Dodge Durango was traveling east on Interstate 64 at a high rate of speed when it rear-ended Hyundai Sonata, forcing it off the road and hitting a guardrail. The Dodge then crossed into the westbound lanes where it struck a Toyota Tacoma followed by a head on collision with a Nissan Altima.
When first responders arrived on scene, they found a 5-year-old child passenger from the Altima ejected from the vehicle with fatal injuries and they were pronounced deceased. The driver, identified as Tonya Colis, along with everyone involved in the crash with the exception of the Tacoma driver, David Miyamura was transported to the hospital. The driver of the Durango, identified as Willie Green, reportedly has charges pending against him. This remains an ongoing investigation.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When a vehicle goes airborne and leaves a bridge, the outcome is devastating—but the real concern is how it happened in the first place. In the absence of other vehicles, it’s tempting to settle on the idea that the driver simply lost control. But crashes like this rarely boil down to one simple mistake.
1. Did the authorities thoroughly investigate the crash?
Crossing a bridge and then veering into a barrier should trigger a detailed reconstruction. Did investigators review tire marks, estimate speed, or analyze whether there was any attempt to brake or steer away from danger? It’s also worth asking whether the vehicle drifted, swerved, or reacted suddenly before striking the barrier. Without that level of detail, the root cause of this crash may never be fully understood.
2. Has anyone looked into the possibility that a vehicle defect caused the crash?
Losing control without any outside interference raises serious questions about the vehicle’s mechanical state. Brake failure, steering issues, or a malfunction in stability control could all result in a driver being unable to correct the vehicle’s path—especially on a bridge, where lane space is limited and elevation increases the consequences. Unless the vehicle was inspected thoroughly after the crash, a defect could be quietly written off as driver error.
3. Has all the electronic data relating to the crash been collected?
The Sonata likely holds crucial information about speed, brake usage, and steering input in the final seconds before impact. That data can show whether the driver was actively trying to regain control—or if the car wasn’t responding to commands. Investigators should also check for any nearby traffic or surveillance cameras that may have captured the vehicle’s approach to the bridge.
When a car leaves the road and falls from a bridge, that’s not just a crash—it’s a failure of something. The only question is whether we’re willing to ask hard enough to find out what.
Takeaways:
- Crashes involving bridge impacts demand full scene reconstruction.
- Mechanical failures can mimic driver error and must be ruled out.
- Onboard data and external video are essential to understand vehicle behavior.
