The morning started like any other in Wadsworth. Then, in a matter of seconds, everything changed. Kelly Wooten, 51, and Jacklyn Bradley, 45, both from Stoughton, were killed Thursday morning in a violent head-on collision along Route 173. The loss has shaken families in two states and left a quiet highway marked by heartbreak.
Authorities say Wooten was driving a 2009 Acura sedan eastbound just before 8 a.m. when he appeared to struggle to keep the vehicle in its lane. Witnesses later described the car weaving before it suddenly crossed into oncoming traffic. That is when it collided with a westbound semi-truck hauling roughly 35,000 pounds of cargo.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office confirmed through autopsies that both Wooten and Bradley died from blunt force injuries sustained in the crash. The impact was severe. Deputies said the Acura was heavily damaged, leaving little chance of survival.
Emergency crews from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Newport Township Fire Protection District arrived around 7:50 a.m. Firefighter-paramedics pronounced both victims dead at the scene. Additional support came from Zion Fire/Rescue and a commercial vehicle officer with the Illinois State Police as investigators worked to reconstruct what happened.
A Honda minivan traveling behind the Acura was also caught up in the crash. Its driver, a 54-year-old woman from Salem, was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. The semi-truck driver, a 25-year-old man from Evergreen Park, was not hurt and has been cooperating with authorities.
One witness described the Acura drifting into oncoming traffic at the worst possible moment, calling it one of the most shocking scenes he had ever witnessed. Traffic along Route 173 was shut down for hours as crews cleared debris and investigators carefully measured the scene.
For those who knew Wooten and Bradley, the details of the crash matter less than the empty spaces they leave behind. Friends describe them as loved and valued, the kind of people who showed up for family and stayed connected to their community. Their deaths are a hard reminder that even an ordinary weekday morning can turn without warning.
May their memory rest gently with those who loved them most.
