A pregnant 29-year-old woman from Bellefonte and her unborn child were killed in a multi-vehicle crash Friday on Interstate 99 in Centre County, according to a state police crash report released on Monday.
Katharyn M. Derhammer, who was 33 weeks pregnant, was stopped in traffic at about 6:05 p.m. in the right lane near mile marker 76.6 northbound in Benner Township when she was rear-ended by a GMC Yukon driven by a 31-year-old Boalsburg man. Traffic was slowed at the time because of an unrelated crash a mile north on I-99.
Police wrote that the driver of the Yukon was traveling at a high rate of speed and failed to recognize the stopped traffic.
The crash caused Derhammer’s Nissan Rogue to hit another vehicle in front of her, and the driver of the Yukon struck a fourth vehicle.
Derhammer was flown by medical helicopter to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where she and her baby died.
No other injuries were reported. Three vehicles were towed from the scene.
I-99 northbound in the area of the crash was closed until about 11 p.m.
Undine, Logan and Alpha fire companies, Centre LifeLink and Mount Nittany Health EMS, PennDOT and Rich’s Amoco also responded to the scene.
An investigation is ongoing.
