Victoria Strauss had shocking amount of alcohol in her system when her head got stuck between car and toll booth
COLUMBUS, OHIO: The cause of the death of Victoria Strauss, who died in January, has now been revealed. The 23-year-old Ohio State University graduate was found dead in the early hours of January 19 after her head was crushed between the car and parking garage booth. Two months after the tragedy, a coroner has stated that her blood alcohol level was three times the legal drink driving limit at the time of her death.
According to the Franklin County Coroner's report, Strauss' immediate cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. The report also mentioned mechanical asphyxia as an important reason that had a contribution to the woman’s death but it was not the underlying cause. In addition, the coroner found a blood alcohol level of 0.221 in Strauss’ body and stated acute ethanol poisoning in the report with other discoveries.
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Earlier it was reported that Strauss was leaving the garage in downtown Columbus at 11.37 pm on January 18 when the freak accident happened. On the night of the tragedy, after dropping her credit card while paying for parking, the social work student tried to get it and accidentally hit the accelerator with her door still open. As the vehicle moved ahead, her head got crushed between it and the garage booth. Her body was found early January 19 by police after a security guard called them.
At the time, a statement was released by the Columbus Ohio Division of Police that stated, “While attempting to pay for her parking, she dropped her card. She attempted to retrieve her card by opening her door and leaning out to pick it up. She inadvertently accelerated and collided with the parking kiosk. The collision pinned her between her car door and the door frame. Strauss died as a result of her collision with the kiosk and was pronounced dead at scene. No one else was involved.”
Strauss, who hailed from Florida, “wanted to be a therapist”. Her friend Brianna Domaeti told local news station WBNS 10TV, “She wanted to be a therapist; she was about to graduate grad school, she wanted to make a change in other people's lives.” Domaeti and two other friends of the deceased woman — Jacquelyn Castore and Charleston Carter — also recalled her as a good dancer. “It’s very special. It does make us feel at ease knowing that was the last memory we shared together. She kind of held us all together. We four had a connection and soon as we had a connection, we became best friends right away,” Castore said, who also added, “We feel her absence, we will be dancing for her for the rest of our lives.” Domaeti remarked, “Each and every dance that she did, you could feel… you could feel that she was dancing for a bigger purpose.”
The Ohio State University also issued a statement to PEOPLE that said, “Victoria Strauss was a graduate student in the College of Social Work. We were heartbroken to learn she passed away on Monday, and we extend our deepest sympathy to her family and friends during this difficult time.”