Julia Quinn, author of the book series “Bridgerton,” stated Wednesday night in a Facebook post that her father Stephen Cotler, 77, and sister, Violet Charles, 37, were killed on June 29 in a car crash in Davis County.
According to the Utah Department of Public Safety, a catering company lost their load of canvas bags on the freeway at about 8:30 p.m. When two cars stopped or nearly stopped for the debris, a truck came upon the traffic and hit the car Cotler was driving, and in which Charles was a passenger. Both died at the scene.
Cotler’s vehicle struck another car when it was hit by the truck, and the occupants of that vehicle were “transported by ground in serious condition.” Another man was in critical condition and taken by helicopter to a hospital.
The driver of the truck, Myron Millsap Barlow, 38, was booked into the Davis County jail on June 30. He was charged that same day with two felony counts of automobile homicide, two felony counts of DUI, a misdemeanor charge of DUI and a misdemeanor charge of driving with an open container. According to FOX 13, Barlow allegedly recorded a blood alcohol level of .146 in a field sobriety test, almost three times Utah’s legal limit of .05.
— The Salt Lake Tribune and FOX 13 have a content-sharing partnership.
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