I-70 Crash Kills Two On Hand For Race

Md. Police Not Sure Of Circumstances

A chain-reaction crash early yesterday killed a La Plata man and a Columbia woman who had gotten out of the man's car to watch a street race on a near-deserted stretch of highway in Baltimore County, Maryland State Police said. Two Maryland men were severely injured in the crash.

Jonathan Robert Henderson, 20, and Mary-Kathryn Michele Abernathy, 21, were in a group of people that had gathered on Interstate 70 just west of the Baltimore city line, authorities said. About 3 a.m., they were standing near Henderson's Acura Integra, parked on the shoulder of westbound I-70, when a Chevrolet Impala struck a Chevrolet Cavalier, also parked on the shoulder, and pushed it into the Acura, police said. The Acura hit Henderson and Abernathy, who were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Police identified the injured men as Donneil Raeburn, 26, of Pikesville, Md., and Paul Alan Duffy, 22, of Elkridge. Raeburn was driving the Impala, said Arthur Betts, a state police spokesman. But Betts said it was unclear whether Raeburn was a racer, a spectator who was trying to leave or someone driving by. He said Duffy was standing near the Cavalier when it was hit by Raeburn's car.

According to Betts, alcohol might have been a factor in the crash. No charges had been filed, he said.

Betts said it was also not known whether the race was in progress when the crash occurred or whether the group was waiting for it to begin. He said investigators did not know how many people had gathered to watch the race because many had fled by the time authorities arrived.

Street races can draw hundreds of people, typically on weekend nights, and are often held along dark, remote stretches of road. The events, whose locations are spread by word of mouth, often have a party atmosphere, with participants showing off vehicles built for speed.

Police in the Washington area recently reported a decline in the number of street races since eight people were killed at a race in Accokeek more than 16 months ago. After that crash, law enforcement officials cracked down on street racing by increasing patrols near popular sites, conducting helicopter surveillance and urging residents to report races.

Henderson's relatives gathered at his home yesterday while seeking information about the crash. Paul Toman, Henderson's stepfather, said Henderson was an electrician who repaired equipment. He said that Henderson and Abernathy had been dating for six months and that she was a "wonderful, sweet girl."

"They spent all of their time together," Toman said. "They were inseparable."

Toman gave a somewhat different account of the accident. He said police told him that the couple had been sitting on top of the Integra to watch the street race when it was struck. "It's just so tragic, we're just trying to figure out all that's happened," Toman said.

Betts said yesterday's crash illustrates how difficult it is to clamp down on street races. He said organizers continue to find places to race at speeds that often surpass 100 mph. Betts said two state police patrols had swept through the area an hour before the report of the crash.

"They're still out there. We know they are," he said.

Betts said the crash occurred on a 1.5-mile stretch of I-70 in Woodlawn, where the interstate terminates. The road is known to attract street racers, although not often, and residents have complained about racing there, he said.

Witnesses reported that a Baltimore County police vehicle had been seen traveling east on I-70 and that the people standing on the shoulder had started to return to their vehicles when the crash occurred, Betts said.