Atwater, California — October 19, 2010

Police have blamed a suicde by semi for triggering a fatal, three-car crash near along State Route 140 in Atwater.

The Merced County Sheriff’s Department reports that a suicide note was found in the wreckage where Jason Andrew Shetler, 40, swerved his Nissan pickup truck into oncoming traffic and struck a semi head-on. He was ejected and the pickup rolled into an irrigation canal.

The crash occurred around 11:30 a.m. with Arestides Fontes, 40, of Merced, behind the wheel of the semi. The force of the collision caused the semi to flip onto its right side and skid across the roadway, striking a Ford Taurus driven by Yolanda Charlton, 53, of Merced.

Ms. Charlton suffered a broken neck, broken pelvis and ruptured colon, and was transported to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, where she remains unconscious. Mr. Fontes susteind only minor injuries and sought his own medical attention.

UPDATE: Ms. Charlton reportedly died October 25 from injuries sustained in the crash.

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