WAYNE COUNTY — A 25-year-old Holmes County woman died early Sunday morning in a one-car crash in Wayne County’s East Union Township in which the driver is suspected of being impaired.
Hannah Eve Baird of Big Prairie, a rear-seat passenger in a 2020 Ford F-250 Super Duty
pick-up, was pronounced dead at Wooster Community Hospital, according to the Wooster Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
She was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, troopers said.
Troopers said they were notified at at 12:29 a.m. of an iPhone crash alert on Hackett Road, (CR 188) in the area of South Millborne Road (CR 142).
Responding emergency personnel from Apple Creek/East Union Township Fire Department located the crash east of Millborne Road, just east of the village of Apple Creek in Wayne County, troopers said.
The initial investigation revealed the crash involved a gray 2020 Ford F-250 Super Duty
pick-up that had been eastbound on Hackett Road from Apple Creek, driven by Trevor Lee Barker, 22, of Washington Court House, Ohio.
The pick-up lost control on the icy roadway, rotated off the left side of the road, struck the ditch and overturned onto its right side, according to the patrol.
Barker, who was not wearing a seatbelt, suffered minor visible injuries, but claimed no injuries, according to troopers. Barker was charged with DUI and taken into custody, troopers said.
Another rear-seat passenger, Whitney Brooke Miller, 24, of Millersburg, was unbelted but uninjured in the crash, troopers said.
In addition to the fire department, troopers were assisted on the scene by personnel from Apple Creek Police, Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, and Three Son’s Towing & Recovery.
“Alcohol was a factor in the crash. The actions and the events that led to the death of
Baird remain under investigation,” the patrol said in a press release.
Troopers said it’s the first fatal crash in Wayne County in 2025.
Over the previous five years in Wayne County, driver impairment has contributed to 44 traffic deaths (55 percent) and 35 unbelted occupants have been killed (43 percent).
“The Ohio State Highway Patrol, Wooster Post, reminds all occupants to drive sober, never ride with an impaired driver, and always buckle up, whether behind the wheel or along for the ride,” troopers said.