WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge, Louisiana News, Weather, SportsLSU ID's driver in fatal LaPlace accident

LSU has identified the only person that had not been identified in the crash that killed five people Friday near New Orleans.

The only person unidentified in the I-10 accident was the driver of a Jeep which police say was going the wrong way on the interstate for possibly more than 20 miles. LSU has identified the driver as Ryan Russell Gibbs, 30, of Baton Rouge.

The Louisiana State Police say, "Based on vehicle records and information provided by the family, investigating troopers suspect that the driver of the Jeep Grand Cherokee is 30 year old Ryan Gibbs of Baton Rouge, LA. Final positive identification and toxicology results are still pending the outcome of an autopsy."

The crash happened around 3 a.m. on February 10, 2012 on the elevated portion of Interstate 10 westbound west of LA 3188 in St. John Parish.

It involved four vehicles. Police say the Jeep was headed in the wrong direction on I-10 when it collided with a Ford Focus containing four people. All four people in the Ford did not survive.

Shortly after the initial crash, the Jeep was hit by an 18-wheeler, driven by Ryan Firman, 61, of Cottonport, LA, and a 1998 Saturn sedan, driven by Reginald Nutter, 30, of Baton Rouge, LA. Firman received minor injuries and was treated at the scene. Nutter was transported to River Parish Hospital for minor injuries.

The driver of the Ford was Lawayne Rice, 30, of Zachary, LA. The other occupants of the Ford Focus include: Terrell Sims, 27, of Slaughter, Frederick Louis Brown Jr., 19, of Baton Rouge, and Dondray London, 20, of Baton Rouge.

After the initial head-on collision, the Jeep SUV became engulfed in flames. Due to the extent of the fire, seatbelt use and impairment for the driver of the Jeep were unable to be determined pending toxicology results.

LSU sent out the following news release on Ryan Russell Gibbs:

The LSU community is mourning the loss of Ryan Russell Gibbs, a graduate student in English who died on Feb. 10 from injuries suffered in a tragic car accident in New Orleans.

"The LSU family was saddened to hear about the passing of Ryan Gibbs," said LSU Chancellor Michael Martin. "This is a great loss to the LSU community, and our hearts go out to his family, friends and everyone he touched in the English department."

Memorial services for Gibbs will held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at Boxwell Brothers Funeral Directors, 2800 Paramount Blvd., Amarillo, Texas. Gil Lane, pastor of Paramount Baptist Church, Amarillo, is officiating. Memorials may be sent to the creative writing graduate program at LSU.

Gibbs, a resident of Baton Rouge, was born on Sept. 5, 1981, at High Plains Baptist Hospital in Amarillo, Texas.

Click Here to read the rest of the release from LSU.

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