1 dead after wrong-way-crash on Southern State in Suffolk County

ISLIP TERRACE, N.Y. (WABC) -- One person was killed in a wrong-way crash in Suffolk County Tuesday night.

Two drivers collided head-on on the eastbound Southern State Parkway near exit 43A around 10 p.m. in Islip Terrace.

Neither car was carrying any passengers.

According to police, a 2004 Buick operated by 63-year-old Edward Ogden, of Bay Shore, was westbound in the eastbound lane and struck a 1993 Subaru operated by 24-year-old Travis Sloboda, of East Islip head-on.

Sloboda was pronounced dead at the scene. Ogden was taken to Southside Hospital, where he is in critical condition.

Sloboda's distraught mother spoke to Eyewitness News.

We spoke to his distraught mother at their home in East Islip today but she didn't want us to show her face.

He always took care of me," Janet Sloboda said. "My mother died six months ago, and he was there for me. Now Travis won't be there for me to care for Travis."

Sloboda was on his way home from his girlfriend's house.

The wreckage was eerily similar to another crash less than 24 hours earlier on the same highway. That one happened around exit 15, and two teenagers died.

Sloboda's mother said her son was an aspiring stand-up comic who had just gone back to school and was studying to enter the medical field.

"He was funny," friend Nick Lopergalo said. "He was always there for us. He helped people. He was there for me when I really needed him."

The cause of the crash is unclear, and investigators were looking into whether fog could have played a role.

Anyone with any information on the case is asked to call (631) 756-3300.