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8-year-old girl killed in head-on crash on U.S. 41

 
Published Nov. 17, 2002|Updated Sept. 4, 2005

An 8-year-old Inverness girl was killed Friday evening after a head-on car collision on U.S. 41 near Julia Street.

Erhin Worley died while being taken by helicopter to Tampa General Hospital. She was pronounced dead at 8:14 p.m.

Worley was riding in a two-door Saturn with her mother, Rhonda Worley, 31, the driver of the car, her 10-year-old brother, Bradley, and Rhonda's boyfriend, Gary Sieg, 34, also of Inverness.

They were heading south on U.S. 41 just before 7 p.m., when a Ford Ranger pickup truck pulled out of RJ's Pizza & Subs and headed north on 41. The truck, driven by Brice Siders Sr., 63, made a wide turn and crossed into the southbound lane "directly in the path of the Saturn," said Ronda Hemminger Evan, a spokeswoman for the Citrus County Sheriff's Office.

"They hit dead on," Evan said.

Deputies smelled alcohol on Siders' breath, Evan said. His blood was drawn at the crash site and will be analyzed at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Siders, of 4624 S Florida Ave., lot 9, declined medical treatment.

Rhonda Worley, 9355 E Mistwood Court in Inverness, Bradley Worley and Sieg, 34, also of Inverness, were taken by ambulance to Citrus Memorial Hospital, where they were treated and released.

Siders' wife, Faye, was a passenger in the pickup and was flown by helicopter to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa. She remained there in critical condition Saturday.

_ Suzannah Gonzales can be reached at sgonzalessptimes.com or 860-7300.