ASHLAND, Wis. — A Wisconsin lawmaker was involved in a fatal car crash in Ashland Friday, leaving a 27-year-old woman and her 5-year-old daughter dead.
Ashland Police Chief Bill Hagstrom told the Ashland Daily Press that state Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley had pulled into the path of a car driven by Alyssa Ortman as she pulled out of the Maslowski Beach parking lot.
After being stuck by Bewley, Ortman's car was then spun and struck by another vehicle driven by 45-year-old Jodi Munson, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The Associated Press reported that Ortman was transported to a local hospital where she later died.
Her 5-year-old daughter was pronounced dead at the crash scene, the news outlet reported.
Bewley was not taken to the hospital and she was not injured in the accident, Hagstrom told the Ashland Daily Press.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bewley was on the phone with a reporting intern from the newspaper just before the crash occurred. As she was talking to the reporting intern, Bewley said she had undergone cataract eye surgery on Thursday.
Moments later, the phone went silent. When asked by the reporting intern if she was still there and if she was OK, Bewley sounded concerned, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Hagstrom told the Ashland Daily Press that State Patrol is reconstructing the crash and no charges have been filed as the investigation continues.
