Pregnant woman killed in ‘tragic’ Reading Road crash remembered

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - The name of the 20-year-old pregnant pedestrian and her baby who died after she was struck by an SUV in Mt. Auburn last week has been released.

Korotoum Dao was walking on a sidewalk in the 2500 block of Reading Road when she was hit around 11:45 p.m. Wednesday.

The driver of the SUV, Anthony Cioffi, drove his 2011 BMW X5 south on Reading Road “recklessly” traveled off the right-hand side of the road, struck a utility pole, Dao, several metal posts, and the building located at 2499 Reading Road, “causing significant damage,” police wrote in his criminal complaint.

Dao was transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where she later succumbed to her injuries as a result of the collision.

She “underwent emergency surgery to deliver Baby Dao. Baby Dao was delivered but later succumbed as a result of the collision,” the court document states.

Impairment and excessive speed appear to have played a role in the crash, police said Thursday.

Britney Brown was a friend of Dao’s. She says Brown had only been in Cincinnati for about a year and was in the process of getting her GED.

“Her life was cut short because of some reckless driver,” Brown said. “It’s so sad.”

Brown says Dao had been living at the shelter for a short time and, at the time of the crash, was going to get something from the store.

“She’s a very nice person. She’s very quiet, very humble,” Brown said. “There’s so much good things to say about her. Just to see that she lost her life in this tragic incident is really sad.”

Cioffi, 31, of Dayton, Ky., and his 29-year-old passenger in the SUV were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Cioffi was charged with four counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, drug of abuse or a combination of them, court records show.

He was released from the hospital over the weekend and booked into the Hamilton County Justice Center.

Cioffi appeared in court Monday where his bond was set at $2 million.

“You took a life from us in such a short time,” Brown said. “I am just saying that we will get justice for this. You left us without a sister, a friend, a family that’s well beloved by her parents. They’re feeling so bad.”

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