One man was killed and another critically injured when the pair’s pickup truck lost control while descending into Wilson, crossed into oncoming traffic and rolled off the side of Teton Pass just before 8 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol.
The passenger who died was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle, which was pulling a large trailer with one pallet of decorative stones.
Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue identified the deceased passenger as Javier De Luna Chavez of Colorado. Blue could not confirm his age.
The driver was life-flighted to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. Witness photos from the scene show the trailer remained in the road as the truck lay crumpled on its side.
It came to rest on the north side of the road near milepost 7 near the turnoff for Old Pass Road, very near where two were killed in a July 7 crash. A third severe crash at that location happened Aug. 17 when an RV lost its brakes heading down the mountain highway, leaving an 11-year-old girl hospitalized and six others injured.
“All three of those crashes were about 1,000 yards up from our house. So at this point it's not really coincidence,” said Brian Ralph, one of the first to arrive at the scene on Wednesday. “Something needs to be done.”
The two wrecks before Wednesday spurred community meetings, pledges from local officials and state lawmakers, and additional work with the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
Make Teton Pass Safer, a group that organized following July’s lethal crash, urged the department in August to temporarily ban RVs and trailers and reduce the weight limit while pursuing “permanent improvements.” The group has since scaled back its requests to better signage and a vehicle checkpoint.
Organizer Jared Smith said the group is grateful for collaboration with the state transportation department but added that “much more needs to be done and can be done with limited resources.” He called the current conditions on the pass a “crisis of public safety” and said federal money may be a solution.
“Resources should not be an issue when we’re dealing with an emergency like this,” Smith said.
Teton County Commissioner Luther Propst, who was friends with one of the July 7 victims, said Thursday that he was “devastated and exasperated with the pass conditions.” He echoed the call for an immediate ban to trailers, RVs and other heavy vehicles on the pass, essentially moving up the winter restriction.
“The death and the injury and the toll on first responders is out of hand,” he said.
Jackson Hole Fire/EMS sent three stations and multiple ambulances on Wednesday. Deputy chief Brian Coe said his department is “willing and able to work with multiple agencies” to meet the goal of a safer Teton Pass.
“It’s definitely something where the community is very diligent and focused, as well as Fire/EMS,” he said.
More than 60 accidents occur on the pass each year, according to state data. That includes seven fatal incidents in the past four years, including this week’s crash.
Average daily traffic over the pass from Idaho increased 66% from 2009 to 2023, from 4,532 vehicles to 7,508, according to WYDOT. More recent years weren’t immediately available.
Statewide, failure to wear a seatbelt has played a role in about half of fatal crashes in the last two years. There were 111 fatal crashes in 2025 and 76 so far this year in Wyoming, according to the highway patrol.
Officials have increased signage on Teton Pass and are urging caution about its steep grades up to 10%.
“We are asking people to be aware of what that highway is all about, the grade on that highway and what can happen on it,” said Highway Patrol spokesperson Aaron Brown. “They need to be aware of it and act accordingly.”
The Wednesday crash came the same day the dump truck driver involved in the July 7 multi-vehicle collision was criminally charged with two counts of homicide by vehicle.
Laiton McMinn allegedly did not use a low enough gear or descended too quickly, burning through his brakes in what Highway Patrol described as a “totally preventable” incident. The driver, who had a commercial driver's license and mountain training, told Highway Patrol he tried to bail through the right guardrail but bounced off.
“The path is steeper than it looks,” said Ralph, the Wilson witness. “It's kind of sad to say, but unless something actually is done to regulate it, it's probably just going to keep happening.”
