SP woman killed in head-on collision

A Severna Park woman was killed and her boyfriend critically injured last night when a man lost control of his vehicle on a curve in Pasadena and struck their car head-on. Police say speed and alcohol played a role in the wreck, but have not yet filed charges.

Elizabeth Meryl Fowler, 54, was driving a 1990 Honda Accord south on B&A Boulevard at 7:45 p.m., county police said. At the same time, Christopher Nelson, 26, was traveling north in a 2002 Subaru Impreza.

Just south of Old Mill Road, police said, Mr. Nelson approached a curve and lost control of the Subaru, crossing into the southbound lane in front of Lake Waterford Park.

Ms. Fowler, of 528 St. Martins Lane, suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken by ambulance to Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie, where she was pronounced dead a short time later, said Capt. Debbie Bowen, a county Fire Department spokesman.

Her boyfriend, Steven Desombre, 45, who was a passenger in the Honda, was taken by ambulance to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with critical injuries. Mr. Nelson, of 8232 Waterford Road, also was taken by ambulance to the shock trauma center with serious injuries.

Police believe Mr. Nelson was speeding and may have been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.

If warranted, charges will be filed after a case review by the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office, police said.

Ms. Fowler's parents, David and Gloria Holmes, said the couple lived with them in their Severna Park home.

Mr. Holmes said his daughter received a phone call from Mr. Desombre at 6 p.m. yesterday. The four residents shared one vehicle. He said Mr. Desombre asked his girlfriend to pick him up from a job selling food door-to-door near Baltimore.

Ms. Fowler took the family's Honda Accord and met her boyfriend. The couple then went to the Box N' Save grocery store in Glen Burnie to stock up on food, Mr. Holmes said.

The two were returning home from the grocery store when they were struck.

"There was a curve in the road and someone crossed over," Mr. Holmes said. "He didn't make the curve and hit them straight on." He and his wife got word of their daughter's death at 9:45 p.m.

Ms. Fowler was one of eight children, said Mrs. Holmes, 79.

She grew up in Severna Park and attended Severna Park High School. She had one grown child, a son from a previous marriage. He is married with four children, and lives in Georgia, Mrs. Holmes said.

Mrs. Holmes described her daughter as "easy going."

"She was just very laid back," she said. "Just about anything you said to her, she'd just say, 'OK.' "

Mrs. Fowler was unemployed, but had held jobs in the past, including a clerk position at a Walgreens pharmacy.

Mrs. Holmes said her daughter "liked to have a good time."

"She was very happy-go-lucky," she said.

The family has fallen on hard times recently. Sitting on the couch in her modest Severna Park home this morning, Mrs. Holmes answered a phone call from a concerned friend. Tears rolled down her cheeks as Mrs. Holmes explained the difficulty of spreading the news to her children. She also expressed concern about the groceries in the family's totaled vehicle.

"It doesn't seem important in the scheme of things," she said. "But we could really use them. We're hanging on by a thread."

Mr. Holmes sat by quietly. When asked how he'll remember his daughter, he suddenly choked up and was for a near loss of words.

"She was a friend," he said.