Columbia man killed in crash on highway identified by Richland County coroner
A Columbia man who was killed in a car crash over the weekend was publicly identified by the Richland County Coroner’s Office Monday.
Jonathan Cato, 23, died at the scene on Sunday morning, Coroner Gary Watts said in a news release.
An autopsy showed Cato died as a result of blunt trauma to the head, according to the release.
The single-vehicle collision happened at about 1 a.m. on Interstate 26, according to Cpl. Sonny Collins of South Carolina Highway Patrol. It occurred near the 98 mile marker, which is just outside of Columbia, a few miles away from the area called Malfunction Junction.
A 2014 Audi was heading east on I-26 when it ran off the right side of the road and flipped over, according to Collins.
Cato was not wearing a seat belt, Watts said.
No other injuries were reported by Highway Patrol.
Information on what caused the car to veer off I-26 was not available, but the wreck is being investigated by Highway Patrol and the coroner’s office.
Through Monday morning, 858 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2020, according to the Department of Public Safety. Of those, 582 of the victims had access to seat belts, but 312 were not wearing them, DPS reported.
There have been at least 39 people killed in Richland County crashes in 2020, and seat belts were not used in at least 27 of the collisions, according to DPS.
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