By Staff
CASSOPOLIS – A Niles woman killed in a Christmas Eve crash in Jefferson Township was the wife of a Dowagiac teacher.
Cass County Sheriff Joseph M. Underwood Jr. reports that at approximately 7:35 p.m. Dec. 24, deputies from his office responded to a fatal traffic crash on Hospital Street, near Mullen Road.
Initial investigation at the scene determined that Rachel Leazenby, 27, of Niles, was eastbound on Hospital Street when she turned left into the path of a vehicle driven by Thomas Gleason, 19, of Cassopolis, who was attempting to pass her.
Leazenby was transported to Dowagiac to Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Gleason and a passenger in his vehicle, Danielle Fester, 19, of Cassopolis, were not injured.
Assisting at the scene were Michigan State Police Post 53, LifeCare
Ambulance, Edwardsburg Ambulance and Cassopolis and Penn Township fire departments.
Alcohol does not appear to be a factor. The crash remains under investigation.
Her husband, Jon, teaches first grade at Patrick Hamilton Elementary School.