Police ID Second-To-Last Traffic Death Of 2015

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX -- Police have identified the victim of a fatal crash on the Interstate 35 access road in South Austin two weeks ago.

Melanie Horton, 38, died a day after sustaining injuries in the Dec. 26 crash. The car she was driving in the 9600 block of South I-35, on the service road south of Slaughter Lane, struck a tree after Horton lost control of the vehicle.

She was transported to a nearby hospital but died the next day. Her passenger suffered only minor injuries.

Horton was the 101st fatality of 2015 in a year that saw a record number of traffic deaths.

All told, 102 people died on Austin roadways last year--the highest level ever record since official tabulations began in 1985. By comparison, 63 people lost their lives in traffic fatalities in 2014.