James Edward Wright Jr. died after his truck crashed into a tree on Whittaker Road in Ypsilanti Township Wednesday morning.
Courtney Sacco | AnnArbor.com
The Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office on Thursday released the name of the 38-year-old Ypsilanti Township man killed in an accident Wednesday morning.
James Edward Wright Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene after the box truck he was driving went off Whittaker Road near Sea Mist Drive and crashed into a tree, police said.
Wright was the only person in the vehicle. A preliminary investigation revealed no indication that Wright hit the brakes before colliding with the tree.
Per procedure, the Medical Examiner is taking a look at the body, said Sgt. Geoff Fox of the sheriff's office. Police were not releasing any other information about the investigation.
The truck crossed the the centerline of Whittaker and crashed into the tree just before 7:15 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
The tree the box truck hit is directly next to a tree involved in a fatal crash a few years ago. Sixteen-year-old Caitlyn Varney and her cousin, 24-year-old Jessica Varney died in that accident on April 27, 2009. More recently, a head-on collision resulted in the death of a 19-year-old Whittaker man in that same area on Sept. 22, 2012.
The crash that killed Wright was one of two fatal crashes in Washtenaw County Wednesday. Jeffrey Randolph, 49, of Ypsilanti, died when the 2004 Chevrolet Aveo he was driving ran off northbound U.S. 23 near the Carpenter Road Exit shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.