OCEOLA TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Tuesday was a night to celebrate for Oakland County probation Agent Candice Dunn as she was recognized as the Michigan Probation Agent of the Year at the Kellog Center in East Lansing.
But when Dunn and her family were on the way home, their car was hit by a car at Argentine and M-59 in Osceola Township.
Dunn and four other people were killed in the crash.
Police said a car was traveling south around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday on Argentine Road when it failed to stop at a stop sign and hit Dunn's vehicle, which was traveling east on M-59.
The five victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and three others were taken to the University of Michigan Hospital in critical condition.
Dunn's mother, Linda K. Hurley, 69, of Macomb County, and her mother's boyfriend, Jerome Joseph Tortomasi, 73, of Macomb County, were also passengers in the car when it was hit. They were killed in the crash.
Dunn's boyfriend, Albert Rudolph Boswell, 39, of Oakland County, was driving the car on M-59. He is listed in critical condition.
The car Dunn was in caught on fire after the crash, and the other car was turned into a twisted mess.
Justin Andrew-Humberto Henderson, 20, of Fenton, was a front passenger in the car heading south on Argentine Road, police said. He and rear passenger, Preston Taylor Wetzel, 24, of Fenton, were killed in the crash.
Matthew Jordan Carrier, 22, of Fenton, was driving the car on Argentine Road. He and rear driver-side passenger Kyle Eugene Lixie, 23, are in critical condition. Carrier was pulled from the car after the crash, and Lixie was ejected from the car.
"Oh my God, there's someone in the car that is on fire, and I can't get her," a 911 caller said after the crash.
The entire Michigan Department of Corrections was gutted by the news. Members who were at the banquet on Tuesday night said they can't fathom going from the highest professional accolade to dying in a span of hours.
Former co-workers said everyone is devastated to lose someone who made everyone and everything better.
"This is a huge loss for the UAW 600, Michigan state employees, we're all hurting from this," Marseille Allen said.