Hartford
Police said Herbert Kennedy, 89, of White River Junction, drove his pickup truck northbound in the interstate’s southbound lane around 5:40 p.m. and slammed head-on into a sedan driven by Patrick Covey, 33, of Bradford, Vt.
Covey was pronounced dead at the scene and Kennedy died from his injuries at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. The driver of a third vehicle involved in the crash, Cynthia Dale, 61, of White River Junction, suffered minor injuries and was transported to DHMC as a precaution.
Vermont State Police spokesman Adam Silverman said officials still are working on the case.
“How he came to be driving in the wrong direction is a key element in the investigation,” Silverman said on Friday.
One woman who was driving home to Hartland on Interstate 91 just before the crash said she saw Kennedy do a U-turn on the highway.
Lexie Mae West, 22, said she was driving southbound on her way home from work when she noticed the driver of a vehicle about 1,000 feet in front of her acting strangely.
West alleges that the vehicle — the pickup truck later determined to be driven by Kennedy — was traveling in the southbound right-hand lane when the driver suddenly and rapidly decreased in speed before making a sharp U-turn on the highway and heading north in the southbound passing lane.
West’s first thought was that the driver was going to slow down and turn into an emergency pull-off to make a U-turn onto the northbound side of the highway. But instead, the pickup was headed straight for her vehicle, she said on Friday.
“If I didn’t get over, he definitely would have hit me,” West said. “He drove right past me and he passed a couple of people behind me.”
The crash happened just outside of her view, she said. Moments after a 911 caller reported the wrong-way driver, the crash occurred at mile marker 73.
One of Kennedy’s neighbors, Toby Debattiste, said that he never saw Kennedy show signs of questionable driving in the 10 years that he lived next to him at Chambers Mobile Home Village off Sykes Mountain Avenue.
Debattiste, who owns the mobile home village, said he was shocked when he heard that police said Kennedy was driving the wrong-way on the interstate.
“It really surprised me,” Debattiste said.
The 89-year-old Kennedy still lived on his own, shoveled the snow off his roof, repaired small engines and mowed the grounds within the mobile home park, Debattiste said.
The situation is “incredibly sad,” Debattiste said.
Naomi Severance, Covey’s former girlfriend with whom he has a child, said Covey was on his way to their 7-year-old son’s Christmas concert at the White River School at the time of the crash. She was awaiting his arrival.
“I sat next to an empty chair for an hour,” Severance said, knowing something wasn’t right.
After all, Covey would never intentionally miss the show; his son meant everything to him, she said.
“His favorite thing to do in this world was to be with his son,” Severance said.
Although the pair had separated, they both prided themselves on successful co-parenting.
“We were able to raise Noah together,” she said. “It took us a long time to get to that point. It’s just a damn shame. He was a good man.”
Corinth resident Jody Sears, a childhood friend of Covey’s, said the impacts of the crash are being felt throughout the Upper Valley. Covey attended schools in Bradford.
Sears referred to Covey as a brother, saying if the two fell out of touch, they would pick right up where they left off. Covey had been working as a tire technician at Tire Warehouse in West Lebanon.
“He was a kind guy. He was a hard worker,” he said. “It’s too bad. He is definitely going to be missed.”
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.