A Jarrettsville woman died of her injuries Tuesday following a two-car crash on Grier Nursery Road on Valentine’s Day, according to police.
Ashley Nicole Stewart, 18, was a passenger in a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt driven by her boyfriend, Mark P. Buchanan, according to Harford County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Monica Worrell. At approximately 1:30 p.m. the vehicle crossed into the northbound lane and struck a 2001 Chevrolet truck operated by Jorge Velazquez, 32, of Forest Hill.
Both Stewart and Buchanan were transported to University of Maryland Shock Trauma, where Stewart died of her injuries in the early morning hours Tuesday.
According to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, charges against Buchanan are pending, with the State’s Attorney’s Office to review the case.
From the Harford County Sheriff’s Office:
At approximately 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 14, Harford County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a fatal accident involving a 2005 Chevy Cobalt and a 2001 Chevy Truck that occurred on Grier Nursery Road near Millers Road in Jarrettsville, Md. The 2005 Chevy Cobalt was being driven by Mark P. Buchanan, age 19, of Jarrettsville, Md. with passenger, Ashley Nicole Stewart, age 18, of Jarrettsville, Md. The 2001 Chevy truck was being operated by Jorge Velazquez, age 32, of Forest Hill, Md.
Preliminary investigation by the Harford County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit determined that the 2005 Chevy Cobalt was traveling southbound on Grier Nursery Road, just south of Millers Road when it crossed over into the northbound lane and struck the 2001 Chevy truck head on.
The driver of 2001 Chevy truck, Jorge Velazquez, was transported by the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center for his injuries. He was treated and released. He was wearing a seat belt and his air bag deployed at the time of the crash.
Both the driver and passenger of the 2005 Chevy Cobalt were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident. The airbags did deploy. The driver of the Chevy Cobalt, Mark Buchanan, was transported by Darlington Volunteer Fire Company to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center and was later transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma for his injuries.
The impact and resulting crash trapped the 2005 Chevy Cobalt passenger, Ashley Stewart, inside the vehicle. She was extricated from the car by members of the Darlington and Bel Air Volunteer Fire Companies. She was flown to University of Maryland Shock Trauma by Maryland State Police Trooper 1 for injuries sustained in the accident. She was pronounced deceased in the early morning hours of Feb. 15.
Charges against Mark Buchanan are pending in connection with the accident. As in all fatal motor vehicle accidents, the States Attorney’s Office will review the investigation to determine what charges will be filed.
We will miss you Ashley :'(
So sad…Ashley will be missed by the entire community and Mark will forever suffer in his heart as well.
What The Dagger leaves out however, is that the other drive, Jorge Velszquez, didnt even have a MD drivers license and shouldnt even have been on the road!! These two young people were celebrating their love on Valentine’s day and Velazquez was driving without a license.
I pray that the entire community helps this family and Mark heal from this loss!
You say no MD licence, but did he have a licence from another state? How do you know what his licence status was? I’m not sure how this accident is Jorge Velszquez fault as you say? If they had not hit him they could have hit somebody else who had a MD licence, I mean he did cross the center line. What if he hit a tree, would it have been the trees fault? This accident is tragic all the way around, but Mr. Velszquez was not the at fault driver in this case.
They should have been wearing their seatbelts. Seatbelts save lives.
<3 i will miss you ashley. You were a wonderful person and i know that you are up in heaven smiling down. Im so sorry this had to happen on a day you and mark were celebrating your love. I know you both were so happy. xoxo
Sad about the loss of life at such a promising time for this young girl. Too bad that some foolish decisions lead to death…I know that in my time as a youngester, I also did some pretty dangerous stuff and I am still here to talk about it. As far as the other driver, if he didn’t cause the accident, what is the point to say he didn’t have a md driver’s license?
Two Cars Kissing in the Moonlight
It’s unfair that every time vehicles try to celebrate Valentine’s Day the old fashioned way, humans have to get hurt.
It’s impressive that you are getting thoughts from this article as well as from our discussion made at this time.
No seat belt both of them…..on Valentine day…..and they were in love…..both young with little life experience and driving skills……???
They were doing something in the car that distract way too long the attention of the driver……like sex perhaps, or arguing, or calling, or text driving, or girlfriend hitting her boyfriend in a fight, or else ?
Seriously enough to loose control of their car……My bet is they were having sex because they didn’t wear their seat belt unless they were kissing !……things that could had better wait to be home to deal with !