Head-On Collision On I-85 Kills Three

***UPDATE: The Highway Patrol has announced Kania has been charged with Driving While Impaired, Careless and Reckless Driving, Possession of an Open Container of an Alcoholic Beverage in the Passenger Area of a Motor Vehicle, Possession of Alcohol by a Person Under 21 years of Age, and Driving by Person less than 21 years old after Consuming Alcohol. Additional charges are expected.***

Three people were killed early Sunday morning in a head-on collision on I-85 near Hillsborough.

State officials say the accident took place around three o’clock Sunday morning just east of the I-40 split. Chandler Michael Kania, a 20-year-old Asheboro man, was driving his Jeep Wrangler the wrong way on the highway and ran into a Suzuki sedan driven by 49-year-old Felicia Harris, of Charlotte. There were four people in the car; three of them were killed, including Harris, her front-seat passenger, 46-year-old Darlene McGee, of Charlotte, and six-year-old Jahnice Baird, of Brooklyn, New York, in the back seat. The fourth passenger, nine-year-old Jahnia King, of Charlotte, was transported to UNC Hospitals where they are in critical condition.

The Jeep’s driver, Kania, was also transported to UNC Hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. Officials are still investigating, but they say they believe alcohol was a factor.

A LinkedIn page for “Chandler Kania” from Asheboro lists Kania as a student at UNC.