Driver in I-40 crash that killed young woman from Durham had DWI charge pending

The driver in a weekend crash that killed a young woman from Durham may have been impaired at the time of the accident, according to the State Highway Patrol.

Keir Vanessa Witherspoon, 24, was driving northbound on Interstate 40 around 10:26 p.m. Sunday when her Honda Civic was hit head-on by a man driving the wrong way near Trollingwood Road in Alamance County, according to a news release.

Rubicel Diaz Hernandez, 40, of Okeechobee, Florida, was driving a Jeep SUV south in the northbound lanes when he struck Witherspoon, the release stated. She died at the scene.

Hernandez, whom investigators believe was under the influence, has a charge of driving while impaired pending in Alamance County, the release stated.

He is being treated at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill for non-life threatening injuries and will likely face a second-degree murder charge when discharged, the release stated.

Drivers with pending DWI charges automatically lose their license for at least 30 days but may get a provisional license allowing them to drive to and from work.

This is a developing story.