STILLWATER, Okla., Oct. 25 (UPI) — A two-year-old boy is among the four people who died after a suspected drunk driver plowed into an Oklahoma State University homecoming parade Saturday.
The boy was pronounced dead after being taken to a local children’s hospital. Three adults — a married couple and an MBA student from India — were also among those killed. Five people, ranging in age from 37 to 61, remain in critical condition. Up to 12 others, six who are children, remain hospitalized. Another 30 people were treated and released.
Adacia Chambers, 25, was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence. The crash is being investigated as a homicide, police said.
Stillwater, Okla. police identified Bonnie and Marvin Stone, both 65, as among those killed in the crash. It is unclear if the two are related, but there is a Marvin and Bonnie Stone Endowed Scholarship Fund at Oklahoma State University. The school says Marvin Stone was a biosystems and agricultural engineering professor who retired in 2006.
Nikita Prabhakar, a 23-year-old MBA student from Mumbai, India was also killed in the crash, police said. She was a student at the University of Central Oklahoma. The school identified her as Nikita Nakal.
“Our students come to Central with their unique goals, hopes and dreams, and Nikita was undoubtedly no different,” university President Don Betz said.
Floyd Chambers, the suspect’s father, said he was shocked to learn of his daughter’s arrest in the incident. “I can’t figure this out,” Chambers said. “This is not the person that’s my daughter…I can’t imagine alcohol being involved. She is not an alcoholic that I’m aware of. This is just not who she is.”
Von Castor, a meteorologist for a local television station, was taking part in the parade when the crash happened and witnessed the scene.
“A car barreled through barricades and into the crowd where the parade was ending,” Castor said. “It was an absolute horrible scene. I don’t know what the fatality count is, but I did see two fatalities. It brought me to tears.”
