Brookings Teen Killed in Four-Vehicle Crash on I-29 North of Brookings
Northeast Radio SD News – Brookings County, SD - The South Dakota Department of Public Safety has released the names of those involved in a tragic four-vehicle collision that claimed the life of a Brookings teenager early Thursday morning.
The crash occurred at approximately 5:56 a.m. on August 27, on Interstate 29 near mile marker 140, about seven miles north of Brookings.
According to preliminary crash information from the South Dakota Highway Patrol, 38-year-old Ashley Leigh Harbin of Toronto, S.D., was driving a 2018 Subaru Forester southbound in the northbound lanes of the interstate. Harbin’s vehicle collided with a northbound 2011 GMC Sierra driven by 19-year-old Daten Briar Odom of Brookings.
The impact caused Odom’s GMC to rotate and strike a 2024 Ford F-350, driven by 34-year-old Devon Halpate of Newark, Ohio. Following the initial collision, Harbin’s Subaru came to a stop in the roadway, where it was then struck by a northbound 2020 Chevrolet Trax driven by 25-year-old Efrain Ramirez Martinez of Brookings.
Odom sustained fatal injuries in the crash. Harbin suffered life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to a hospital in Sioux Falls.
Authorities confirmed that Halpate, his 21-year-old passenger Benjamin Stang of Clear Lake, Minn., and Martinez were all wearing seatbelts and did not sustain any injuries. Odom was also wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash. Harbin’s seatbelt use remains under investigation.
The South Dakota Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the fatal collision.
