North Haven woman, 23, killed in Interstate 91 crash, police say

NORTH HAVEN — A local woman was pronounced dead after she was thrown from her car in a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 91 Sunday night, according to Connecticut State Police. 

In an incident report released Monday morning, state police identified the woman as 23-year-old Cassandra Leigh Carlson. 

A 17-year-old Branford teen was driving a Honda Accord in the left-center lane south on Interstate 91 while Carlson was traveling in a Subaru WRX “at a high rate of speed behind,” state police said in the incident report.  

The two vehicles then crashed, causing the Honda “to spin out of control into the center median where it struck the metal beam guardrail,” the incident report stated. The Subaru rolled over, also into the center median, where it hit the guardrail and the Carlson was thrown from the vehicle. Police noted in the incident report that the woman was not wearing a seatbelt.  

Carlson landed in the left center lane on the north side of the highway while a tractor-trailer was traveling in the same lane. The vehicle hit Carlson and she was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the incident report.

According to the incident report, the Branford teen sustained minor injuries. He was not taken to the hospital. The driver of the tractor-trailer reported no injuries.

The crash occurred at Exit 9 around 9 p.m. The southbound side of the highway was shut down with only one lane of I-91 north open after the incident, dispatchers said.

The highway reopened around 3 a.m., according to the state Department of Transportation, but shortly after the DOT said it was conducting "emergency road work" in the area of the crash. Both sides of I-91 completely reopened at around 5:20 a.m., the DOT said. 

Anyone who witnessed this incident is asked to contact Trooper Mach #1348 at Troop I in Bethany at 203-393-4200.