Driver in wrong-way 711 crash turns self in

YOUNGSTOWN — The driver of a van that drove the wrong way in February on state Route 711 and collided with a tractor-trailer, killing three people in her vehicle, surrendered today at the Mahoning County jail.

Kanosha Bason, 25, of Warren, was charged Monday with three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and driving without a license in the crash that killed her children Noreyion Bason, 7, and Nialaisha Bason, 5, and her 32-year-old brother Cedrick Lyons in a crash Feb. 23.

Reports said Bason was driving the wrong way in the northbound lanes of the freeway near the Gypsy Lane exit ramp when she collided with the truck. The children were in the back of the van and her brother was in the front when they were killed.

Bason was treated for injuries as well. Police waited for toxicology reports before bringing the case to prosecutors to decide what charges, if any, should be filed.

Patrolman Brian Booksing of the police department’s Accident Investigation Unit said Monday that toxicology tests showed Bason had levels of marijuana, cocaine and alcohol in her system at the time of the crash.