Carlisle crash details emerge

By Jack Brammer - jbrammer@herald-leader.com

Four people, including an 18-year-old woman who was seven months pregnant, were killed Friday night in a two-vehicle collision in Nicholas County, according to Kentucky State Police.

Police said William Robert Hughes, 20, of Carlisle was driving a 1996 Chevy Camaro northbound on Lake Road about 2.5 miles north of Carlisle at 9:45 p.m. Friday when he tried to pass a pickup truck in a passing zone and struck a 1999 Honda Accord head on.

The impact killed Hughes and all three occupants in the Honda. They were driver Jerome B. Hicks, 53; his nephew, Charles L. Hicks, 19; and the younger man's girlfriend, Mary N. Willcut, 18. She was about 7 months pregnant. All three lived in Cincinnati.

All four were pronounced dead at the scene by Nicholas County Coroner Billy Clark.

A passenger in Hughes' vehicle, Dylan Boone, 20, of Carlisle, was taken to the University of Kentucky Medical Center and was in stable condition Saturday, police said.

Police said alcohol is not suspected in the accident, which remains under investigation. They did not identify the driver of the pickup truck.

Clark Funeral Home in Carlisle is handling arrangements for Hughes. They were pending Saturday night.

The funeral home said arrangements for the other three victims also were pending.

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