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Utah woman dies after car crash on I-215 with wrong-way driver, who said he ‘planned’ his actions

The man was apparently high on methamphetamine at the time of the collision.

Gwen Doner, 19, died Wednesday from injuries she had suffered in a head-on car crash Monday, when a driver who was traveling the wrong way on Interstate 215 collided with her vehicle.

Before the driver crashed into Doner, police had been pursuing him. According to a probable cause statement, he had rammed into a police car in a parking lot earlier that evening. Police chased him until he entered I-215 at 6200 South the wrong way, traveling west in eastbound lanes.

At the interchange from I-215 to Interstate 15, the man hit Doner’s car as well as the car of a 31-year-old man, who suffered serious but nonfatal injuries.

The wrong-way driver tried to run away on foot after the collision, but he was caught by police and arrested. He said he was high on methamphetamine at the time of the crash. He allegedly told police that “he had planned the events of the night and had done them on purpose.”

Doner was hospitalized after the crash but later died.

A GoFundMe page that was set up for Doner’s family says she had been out to dinner Monday night, which was why she was on the road when the crash happened.

“Gwen’s greatest strength was helping and caring for others,” says the GoFundMe page. “Gwen’s final gift was to donate her organs to others. Gwen’s most beautiful trait was always [being] willing to make sure the unseen were seen and those who couldn’t find their voice were heard.”