Published: October 20, 2009 12:27 pm      

Jeffersonville woman killed driving wrong way on interstate

Louisville man also died in vehicle collision

Two people — including a Jeffersonville woman reportedly driving the wrong way on the Watterson Expressway in Louisville — were killed in a head-on collision Tuesday morning.

Stephanie Byrd, 31, who lives on the 2000 block of East Eighth Street, and Saul Figueroa Bautista, 32, of Louisville, were pronounced dead at the scene just before 3 a.m., Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Jim Wesley said.

Both died of blunt-force injuries.

Byrd was driving a Dodge Intrepid east in the westbound lanes of Interstate 264 — also called the Watterson — when it struck a green Honda Accord, Louisville Metro Police Department spokesman Dwight Mitchell said.

Mitchell said police have not determined why Byrd was driving the wrong way, but they are looking into whether alcohol was involved.

“We’re still in the very early stages of the investigation,” he said. “We haven’t ruled out anything.”

Police believe Byrd entered the expressway at Taylor Boulevard.

A third vehicle, a minivan, also was clipped by the Intrepid, but no one in that vehicle was injured, Mitchell said. The interstate was closed for more than three hours as police worked to clear the scene.