A University student and Delta Gamma sorority member died in a car accident early Friday morning.
Raimee Lynne Cooper, a 19-year-old psychology freshman and native of New Orleans, died as a result of a car accident on Interstate 10 in Iberville Parish.
State Police were notified of a wreckless driver on the interstate at 1 a.m.
Cooper entered the interstate’s westbound lane — against the flow of traffic — traveling east at the Gross Tete exit ramp. Meanwhile, a 1998 Volvo tractor-trailer, driven by Todd Jones of Coker Creek, Tenn., was westbound on I-10 in the right lane, according to a Louisiana State Police news release.
Jones observed a set of headlights in the left lane and as Cooper’s 1996 Jeep Cherokee passed, it sideswiped the tractor-trailer and continued east in the westbound lane of travel, the news release said.
Four minutes after the first crash, still traveling east in the westbound lane, Cooper’s Jeep Cherokee crashed head-on into a 2001 Ford F-250 that was westbound in the left lane of travel, the news release said.
Cooper was transported to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge. She was later pronounced dead by the attending doctor.
The driver of the Ford F-250, 25-year-old Robert J. Treat, and his passenger, 28-year-old Monica Wunschel, both of Jasper, Texas, sustained moderate injuries in the crash, according to the news release.
Louisiana State Trooper Johnnie Brown said that his office does not know where Cooper was going or where she was coming from.
Brown said Cooper was not wearing a seatbelt and that alcohol is suspected in the accident.
Rachel Troyer, LSU Delta Gamma chapter president, said the sorority is upset about the loss of one of their members.
“We are deeply saddened that this happened,” Troyer said. “Raimee was a fabulous member. We will all miss her.”
The Department of Residential Life distributed letters to residents in Miller Hall Friday informing of the loss of “a member of our community.”
According to the letter, at 2 p.m. Friday in Miller Hall, Mental Health Services counselors were available to any students needing to speak to them.
Victor Felts, director of Greek Affairs, expressed his sympathies about Cooper’s death.
“I am heartbroken and deeply saddened by the tragic death of one of our students,” Felts said. “The Greek community has lost a great woman. Our hearts go out to the family of Raimee Cooper and her Delta Gamma sisters. It is a very sad day for LSU.”