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An Illinois woman who was “afraid of dying alone” intentionally drove head-on into a semi-truck — killing her elderly mom and injuring her son, who were both passengers, cops alleged.
Jamie L. Rhode, 47, was arrested on first-degree murder charges on Tuesday in connection with a deadly crash along US Route 54 on July 24, the Pike County Sheriff’s Office announced.
Rhode, of Griggsville, was behind the wheel of a Toyota RAV4 with her mother, Cherie K. Wells, 73, and her teenage son inside when she allegedly intentionally steered in front of a semi pulling a trailer, according to cops and People.
She smashed head-on into the massive vehicle, injuring herself, her son, and Wells, cops said.
Wells later succumbed to her injuries.
Investigators determined the mom purposefully crashed into the semi-tractor trailer “with the intent of killing all occupants of her vehicle,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a statement.
Rhode, who picked up her mother from a nursing home before the fatal collision, wanted to take her own life but was “afraid of dying alone,” according to the county’s top cop.
“Her plan was to kill all three of them,” Pike County Sheriff David Greenwood told People. “Her plan was to kill herself, and she was afraid of dying alone.”
The semi-tractor driver was uninjured in the crash, the outlet reported.
Rhode was cuffed on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder on Tuesday, after a warrant was put out for her arrest last week.
She was booked into Pike County Jail and is slated to appear in court on Friday.