One person is dead following a one-vehicle fatal crash at the 7 mile marker of Interstate 79 near Charleston. The crash, shown here on Aug. 4, 2025, occurred around 5:20 a.m. on Aug. 4 between the Big Chimney and Elkview exits.
One person is dead following a one-vehicle fatal crash at the 7 mile marker of Interstate 79 near Charleston. The crash, shown here on Aug. 4, 2025, occurred around 5:20 a.m. on Aug. 4 between the Big Chimney and Elkview exits.
CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE | Gazette-Mail
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional information.
An Ohio man died in a one-vehicle crash on Interstate 79 near Charleston early on Aug. 4.
Devan Lawson, 19, of Gallipolis, Ohio "is suspected of falling asleep behind the wheel," according to a news release from the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office on Aug. 13.
A call came into Metro 911 at about 5:20 a.m. on Aug. 4 for a one-vehicle crash in the median of Interstate 79 near the 7-mile marker, between the Big Chimney and Elkview exits. Crews on the scene found a Dodge 1500 four-door pickup truck with Ohio registration rolled over on its roof in the median with one fatality.
"Lawson was not wearing a seatbelt," according to the Aug. 13 news release. "And was ejected from the truck, resulting in fatal injuries."
Crash reconstruction experts with the KCSO, the news release said, "indicated the pickup truck was traveling northbound when it left the roadway, entered the median, struck a drainage structure, and overturned."
The driver, "was the sole occupant of the vehicle," according to an Aug. 4 news release. "Crash reconstruction experts with the [KCSO] continue to analyze the incident," said the Aug. 13 news release. "But no evidence of impairment or excessive speed has been found at this time."
Pinch and Clendenin volunteer fire departments responded to the scene, as well as the KCSO and the West Virginia Department of Transportation.
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