Waseca girl killed, family injured in head-on Wisconsin collision

A Waseca girl was killed and her family members were seriously injured in a crash in Wisconsin this weekend.

Jocelynn Passon, 12, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash in Pepin County, in western Wisconsin. 

She was a passenger in a pickup driven by her father, 40-year-old Steven Passon, who suffered extensive leg injuries and was airlifted to an Eau Claire hospital. 

The Pepin County Sheriff’s Office says the crash happened shortly before 3 p.m. Friday, when an eastbound car driven by  Ethan Whitwam, 18, of Durand, Wisconsin, crossed the centerline on Highway 10 and collided head-on with the Passon’s westbound pickup. Whitwam was also killed in the crash.

The sheriff’s office says the pickup started on fire, trapping the occupants inside.  A passerby was able to pull the victims from the truck and worked with three other people, all of whom had “some level of training and immediately began providing medical aid” to the crash victims.

Eight-year-old Drake Passon, who was also in the pickup, was airlifted to a Minneapolis hospital with critical injuries. 

Jessica Passon, the mother of both children, was treated and released from the hospital in Eau Claire.

A Go Fund Me page says the family was returning from a Wisconsin funeral when the crash occurred.