Wisconsin Lawmaker Janet Bewley Involved In Fatal Car Crash That Left Woman And Her Daughter, 5, Dead

A fatal car crash on Friday that claimed the lives of a mother and her 5-year-old daughter involved Wisconsin’s state Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley. The accident took place in Ashland, with Wisconsin State Patrol currently investigating the crash. A spokesperson for the Democrat minority leader said Bewley’s office is withholding any further comment or information about the incident but expressed the senator’s thoughts and prayers for the victims.

According to Fox News, the 70-year-old senator did not sustain any injuries from the crash, but a 27-year-old mother, Alyssa Ortman from Pennsylvania and her 5-year-old daughter Khaleesi Fink perished in the wreck. The accident happened around 12:30 p.m. as Bewley was reportedly pulling out of a Lake Superior beach entrance and merged into the path of the vehicle being driven by Ortman. Police reports stated that Ortman’s car collided with the senator’s vehicle, causing the mother's car to spin across Highway2 and hit another vehicle.

Portman was taken to a nearby hospital but did not survive her injuries and died later on. Her daughter was pronounced dead at the scene. Bewley was not taken to the hospital and did not require treatment.

The senator was said to have been on a phone conversation with Ben Baker, an intern for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at the time of the crash. Baker had arranged for an interview with Bewley’s staff for her to address the elections of the Legislature on that day. Just a few minutes after their conversation began, while the senator spoke of her recent cataract surgery the day before, Bewley stopped talking. When Baker asked her if she was still on the line, the senator said, “Yeah, I'm OK. This is not a good accident."

Meanwhile, Ginger Urbanik, mother to crash victim Ortman tries to make sense of having to make funeral arrangements for her daughter and granddaughter just less than two years after her only son died from a car accident. The 51-year-old grandmother lost her son to a car wreck that involved a drunken driver who swerved into oncoming traffic.

Ashland Police Chief Bill Hagstrom said in a statement that no charges have been filed as authorities are yet to determine the actual events that led to the crash. From there, the district attorney will review the case and decide if charges will be filed against one of the drivers.