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Background: The crash scene on U.S. 93 near milepost 175 in the area of Congress, Arizona (Carey Smith/AZ Family/YouTube). Inset: Amy Lynn Mickelson (Arizona Department of Public Safety).
A woman is facing charges after allegedly veering into oncoming traffic on a major Arizona highway, resulting in a tragic head-on collision with a minivan that claimed three lives.
Amy Lynn Mickelson, aged 48, is up against numerous charges, including three counts of second-degree murder, seven counts of aggravated assault, two felony endangerment charges, criminal damage, and aggravated DUI, as reported by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Although her arrest took place last week, the incident actually occurred during the winter of 2024.
The accident happened on December 7, 2024, around 2 p.m., when Mickelson was driving her BMW sedan southbound on U.S. 93 near milepost 175 in Congress, Arizona. At the same time, a Toyota Sienna minivan was traveling along the same busy north-south route.
Investigators allege that Mickelson was “impaired,” although the specifics of the impairment remain undisclosed. They claim she crossed over the center line and collided with the minivan head-on.
A witness, Christina Lane, told local outlet AZ Family that she rushed to help the people in the minivan while her boyfriend rescued the woman from the BMW moments before it was engulfed in flames. Aerial video obtained by the outlet shows the sedan burning, with a large amount of smoke billowing up into the air.
The collision left Mickelson’s BMW severely damaged, and images from the scene reveal the minivan was completely destroyed as well.
Three people in the minivan were pronounced dead at the scene. While the Arizona Department of Public Safety did not name them, AZ Family identified the driver’s age as 51, with the two passengers who died ages 44 and 17.
“The remaining four occupants, all minor children between the ages of 5 and 16, were transported for medical treatment with serious physical injuries,” the press release added. They were expected to survive.
About 2:15 p.m. that day, detectives with the department’s Vehicular Crimes Unit responded to the crash and investigated its cause. Though they determined that Mickelson caused it, they say she “fled Arizona and established residence in Utah.”
With the help of the U.S. Marshals Service, law enforcement found and arrested Mickelson outside a convenience store in Salt Lake City, Utah, on March 19, 2026. She was booked into the nearby Weber County Jail and held without bond before being extradited to Yavapai County, Arizona.
Congress, Arizona, is located about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix.