Two Mansfield woman identified as victims in fatal I-71 wrong-way crash

COLUMBUS — Two Mansfield women have been identified as among the three people killed in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 71 near Polaris Fashion Place on Nov. 26.

Columbus police reported that 19-year-old T'naya Douglas, of Mansfield, was driving a 2005 Ford Escape in the left lane of I-71 northbound, south of the Polaris Parkway exit, around 3 a.m. on Nov. 26. 

The crash occurred when Jacinto Mejia De La Cruz, 26, of Columbus, drove a 2012 Honda Civic southbound in the northbound lanes of the interstate and struck the Escape head-on, police said.  

Douglas and her passenger, 19-year-old Zhakyla Jackson, also of Mansfield, were taken to OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital. Both women succumbed to their injuries at the hospital, according to Columbus police. 

De La Cruz was taken to Mount Carmel St. Ann's Hospital, where he also succumbed to his injuries. The crash remains under investigation, according to The Columbus Dispatch, a sister paper of the News Journal.

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Jackson, 19, attended Mansfield Senior High and IMAC and was a dietary aide at Arbors of Mifflin, according to her obituary from Marlan Gary Funeral Home on McPherson Street.

She is survived by a daughter.

Visitation for Jackson is 10 a.m. and the funeral 11 a.m. Friday at Providence Baptist Church, 112 W. Sixth St. with pastor Mark Cobb eulogizing. Interment is scheduled at Mansfield Cemetery.

Douglas attended Mansfield Senior High and IMAC.

She is survived by two daughters.

Visitation for Douglas is 10 a.m. and the funeral at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 7, at Maddox Memorial COGIC ,1148 Walker Lake Road. Interment will be at Mansfield Cemetery, according to her obituary from Marlan Gary Funeral Home on McPherson Street.

Reporter Bethany Bruner of The Columbus Dispatch contributed to this report.

lwhitmir@gannett.com

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Twitter: @LWhitmir