CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Police are continuing their investigation into a car crash that killed a baby along Hull Street Road Monday afternoon.
Sergeant Stephan Rouze of the Chesterfield County Police Department was first to respond to the two-vehicle crash, which took place near the intersection of Skinquarter Road and Hull Street Road on Monday, June 5.
“It was a very bad crash,” Rouze recalled.
Just before 2:30 p.m., a truck pulled off the road right by the Skinquarter Landfill entrance. Seconds later, a Toyota crashed into it. A baby boy, JY’Aire A. Jackson, was inside that Toyota and died at the scene.
“That’s a terrible thing to roll up to,” Rouze said.
This part of Hull Street Road is no stranger to tragedy, Sergeant Rouze said it’s become an all-too-common backdrop for devastating wrecks.
“It’s notorious,” Rouze said. “If you drive that stretch of roadway from the Amelia line to Woodlake, you’ll see crosses and all sorts of memorials set up from the multiple collisions that have occurred over the years.”
There are miles between stoplights and speed limits abruptly fluctuate between residential and school zones to high-speed areas.
Rouze told 8News that in 2021 alone, there were 10 fatal crashes along the Hull Street corridor. That was the year after then-17-year-old Ethan Rodriguez lost his life near the exact same intersection where Jackson lost his.
“The message is people need to stop dying on the roadways,” Rouze said. “Especially when almost every crash is preventable.”
Police are investigating whether factors like speeding played a role in Monday’s tragedy. Sergeant Rouze confirmed police are working to crack down on reckless driving in the area, he added that officers often clock people going 20+ miles over the speed limit.
“These tragedies will continue to happen until people just stop,” Rouze said. “It needs to stop.”
In this case, the parked truck had pulled over entirely off the road. Virginia’s current “Move-over” traffic law only requires cars to switch lanes or slow down when they see a stationary marked emergency response vehicle. Beginning July 1, that law will change to require cars do so for any pulled-over vehicles.
This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Chesterfield County Police Department at 804-748-1251.
