Toddler’s condition improves

ELLSWORTH – The condition of a 3-year-old Clifton girl injured in a vehicle collision on Route 1A is getting better, officials said Thursday.

Raven Hatch was listed in serious condition Thursday at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, a hospital spokeswoman said Thursday. The girl’s mother, April Hatch, still was listed Thursday in critical condition – the same condition in which she and her daughter had been listed the day before.

The two suffered serious injuries Tuesday morning when a car driven by April Hatch, 25, collided head-on with a trailer truck on Route 1A. Hatch’s second daughter, 2-year-old Ashlynn Hatch, also was in the car but died Wednesday after she was taken off life support at the Bangor hospital.

Ellsworth police Officer Rick Roberts, the investigating officer in the accident, said Thursday that police have heard informally that both April and Raven Hatch are improving.

Police have not been able to interview Hatch since the accident but believe she may have fallen asleep at the wheel after working all night as a corrections officer at Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth.