GRAND COTEAU, La. — Police are investigating a two-vehicle crash that left one person dead.
According to police, On Sunday around 5 pm, for unknown reasons, a vehicle driving southbound on I-49 crossed the median and hit a van heading north.
Katelyn LeBlanc was killed in the crash, according to a spokesperson for the Grand Coteau Police Department.
Derrick Comeaux, a St. Landry Parish resident, witnessed the crash.
He said, “Automatically knew there was some type of collision when we saw all the smoke and everything.”
Comeaux said when he reached the crash scene, he helped LeBlanc's daughter out of the vehicle.
“She looked at me, and she says, ‘You’re wearing white, you must be my angel for me and my mom,'" he said. " It took me back because this was not something I was used to seeing, but it was something that as a human being, you have compassion."
As the community mourns LeBlanc, Comeaux hopes the crash serves as a reminder to always properly restrain children while riding in a vehicle.
He said, “There is no doubt, had this young girl not been restrained properly, that the outcome probably would have been a lot —so if there is a miracle that comes out of this, it's the fact that her mother’s last actions saved her daughter’s life.”
The crash remains under investigation.
LeBlanc taught at Leonville Elementary School and they released the following information on their social media page:
