LEMAY, Mo. – A south St. Louis County family is without a home but grateful to be alive after a car went airborne and crashed into their house along Kingston Drive.
Piles of debris sit outside the home. Large sheets of plywood now cover the massive hole of the front-facing wall at 448 Kingston.
A structural engineer will be out next week to assess whether the house will be torn down. A crewman at the residence on Wednesday says the damage they’ve seen both inside and out leads him to believe it’s unlikely the home will stay standing.
Meanwhile, investigators with the St. Louis County Police Department say this was not an apparent speeding incident, but it could’ve been a medical emergency that caused the fatal crash.
“My heart just really goes out to the victim, I can’t stop thinking about her,” said Annie Wheeler, whose home was also clipped by the airborne car.
The crash happened just before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Footage from a doorbell camera shows the car strike the front steps of Wheeler’s home before smashing into the living room of the second residence.
The driver, Cheryl Doyon, was pronounced dead at the scene. She was 73.
Investigators say the tragedy could have been worse.
“There was a lot of miracles involved, a lot of guardian angels watching over (them),” Wheeler said.
Her neighbors’ 3-year-old son was sitting on a bed in the room that was hit. The boy was uninjured.
“It was inches away from his head,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler is saddened over the prospect of losing her neighborhood friends.
“To know that they might not be there, it’s kind of difficult,” she said.
Those who live on the stretch of Kingston say it’s cars speeding down the road that’s caused multiple incidents on that stretch in such a short period of time.
“There’s gonna be another accident here if they’re not careful,” said Brian Harrison, who’s seen four crashes since he moved to the street a year ago.
The Missouri Department of Transportation will host a meeting on July 27 to discuss the four-lane road, which has looked more like a raceway lately.
“I don’t know what they need to do. Something,” Harrison said.