WAYLAND (WKZO-AM/FM) — A 15-year-old girl from Grand Rapids who was thrown from a vehicle has died.
The Allegan County Sheriff’s Office says Alexis Brown-Johnson was an unbuckled backseat passenger and was thrown from the vehicle when it went off the highway around 2:40 a.m. Saturday.
Two other passengers, 19-year-old Tiliyah Zziwambazza of Kentwood and 17-year-old Bianca Monet Bland of Grand Rapids, suffered minor injuries.
The 20-year-old driver, whose name has not been released pending arraignment, is lodged in the Allegan County Jail. Capt. Chris Kuhn said she is suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and authorities are awaiting toxicology results.
The vehicle was southbound on U.S. 131 when the driver lost control and began to slide toward the outside ditch next to the highway. The vehicle continued to rotate and slide down the embankment and into a perimeter fence running along the highway. The vehicle then slid into a ditch that runs adjacent to 12th Street and hit the ditch hard enough to cause the vehicle to roll over and end up on its roof.
The southbound lanes were closed for two hours while the crash was investigated and the debris removed.
