BY RYAN PALENCER
PLAINFIELD — The aftermath of a two car head-on crash last Saturday afternoon has left two people dead and three others in critical condition.
The two-vehicle accident was on I-70 at the 66-mile marker (State Road 267) at 6:12 p.m.
Luke S. Lovins, 21, of Cloverdale, was pronounced dead at the scene. Lovins was eastbound on I-70 in a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu with four passengers when a westbound 2000 Ford pickup operated by Alfredo Luviano Martinez, 31, of St. Louis, Mo., crossed the median and struck the Lovins vehicle head-on.
Erin C. Ford, 20, of Coatesville, was taken off life support at about 4:15 p.m. last Sunday and died at the hospital.
Lovins and Ford were engaged to be married and were both members of the Sandlot Ministries family in Danville. The pair volunteered much of their time instructing at inner city outreach youth baseball clinics.
Lovins was an instructor at the Sandlot, a three-year veteran player, and two-year coaching contributor to Team Victory; and spent four years in Cloverdale High School’s varsity basketball and baseball programs. He also attempted football. For his work in high school, Lovins was nominated to the Indiana East/West All-Star High School Basketball team in 2006. He attended Anderson University for one year, where he played basketball and baseball for the school.
After leaving Anderson, he then attended Indiana State University for a year with Ford. The two were enrolled at Ivy Tech where they were both working to get their teaching degrees.
The funeral for Lovins will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Lakeview Christian Church. Calling is from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Bethel Family Worship Center.
Memorials may be made to Luke Lovins Memorial Fund, in care of Sandlot Ministries, Inc., Attn: Tonda Lovins, 2949 E. Main St., Danville, IN 46122.
Services for Ford will be at a later date. Hall-Baker Funeral Home in Plainfield is handling those arrangements.
Indiana State Police believe that Martinez had an issue with his front left tire.
“After a reconstruction of the event, investigators are leaning toward the left front steer tire being bad,” ISP Sgt. Rich Myers said. “They think that it may have blown out.”
After being struck, the Lovins vehicle came to rest on the passenger side, facing west in the grass south off of the east bound lanes.
Martinez was transported to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis with non-life threatening injuries and was later released.
Other passengers in the Lovins vehicle were Debora S. Ford, 50; Thomas F. Ford, 53; and Chandler B. Ford, 13, all of Coatesville. They were all transported by ambulance to Methodist Hospital and as of press time remained in critical condition.
Lanes in both directions of I-70 were closed for about an hour. In addition, traffic was diverted through the eastbound exit ramp at S.R. 267 and I-70.
ryan.palencer@flyergroup.com
