Two people were killed and eight were injured in a five-vehicle pileup Friday night on Interstate 25 in Castle Rock, authorities said.
Robert Cunningham, 25, of Denver, and Ashley Simpson, 15, of Cheyenne, were killed in the accident, said Ronald Watkins, Colorado State Patrol spokesman.
Traffic on southbound I-25 was either stopped or slowing when the crash happened just before 7 p.m., Watkins said.
Cunningham was driving a 1986 Toyota pickup truck near the Founders Parkway exit when he slammed into the back of a 2005 Lexus driven by Diane Hattel, 40, of Cheyenne, Watkins said.
Hattel’s Lexus was forced into the rear end of a 2001 Pontiac sedan driven by Samual Anderson, 22, of Aurora.
Anderson’s car then struck a 1994 Ford minivan driven by Francisco Quintal, 19, of Thornton, whose car hit a 2001 Chevy pickup truck driven by Lorna Williamson, 39, of Palmer Lake, Watkins said.
Cunningham was pronounced dead at the scene.
The injured were taken to three different hospitals.
Simpson, a passenger in the Lexus, was pronounced dead at Swedish Medical Center.
An 11-year-old girl riding in the cab of the pickup with Cunningham and two boys who were in the vehicle’s covered bed were in moderate to serious condition.
The boys went to Swedish and the girl was taken to Children’s Hospital in Denver.
A second passenger in the Lexus, Larry Hattel, 54, suffered moderate injuries and also was taken to Swedish.
Anderson was alone in his car and was taken to a hospital in Littleton with moderate injuries, Watkins said.
Three passengers in the minivan were treated for minor injuries at the Littleton hospital.
The accident remains under investigation, Watkins said.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
