Massillon couple dies in Ripley Township motorcycle crash
A Massillon husband and wife died after a motorcycle was hit at SR 226 and County Road 51 in Ripley Township, sending MedFlight and local crews to the scene.
A stop-sign violation at a rural Ripley Township intersection turned fatal for a Massillon husband and wife and brought a large emergency response to state Route 226 and County Road 51. The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the crash happened around 3:33 p.m. June 13 and remains under investigation.
Troopers said a 2015 Chrysler Town & Country was traveling south on County Road 149 when it failed to yield at a stop sign before entering the intersection and striking a 2024 Harley-Davidson motorcycle traveling east on Route 226. The impact knocked the motorcycle onto its left side and threw both riders from the bike.
Mark C. Sweany, 54, of Massillon, was pronounced dead at the scene. His passenger, Michelle M. Sweany, 52, also of Massillon, was flown by MedFlight to Summa Health Center in Akron with critical injuries and later died. The Chrysler’s driver, 18-year-old Amara J. Higgs of Norton, was not injured, and a juvenile passenger in the minivan also was not hurt.
The crash drew help from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, Shreve Police Department, Western Holmes Fire & EMS, the Holmes County Coroner’s Office, MedFlight and Rigz Towing. The response underscored how quickly a serious wreck on Holmes County’s two-lane road network can pull in agencies from beyond the immediate township when a scene involves a motorcycle, an air ambulance and a fatality investigation.
The wreck also landed in the middle of Ohio’s most dangerous riding season. The highway patrol has said the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, known as the 100 Deadliest Days of Summer, includes the state’s primary motorcycle riding months and that more than half of all motorcycle-involved crashes last year happened during that span. During that window, troopers reported 67,847 crashes and 351 fatal crashes statewide.
Statewide crash data for 2025 show 1,033 fatal traffic crashes, 1,115 traffic fatalities and 195 motorcyclist fatalities. In Holmes County, a local road safety plan set a goal of reducing fatalities and serious injuries by 2% a year and moving toward zero roadway deaths by 2050, a target that gives added weight to a crash at a familiar rural intersection where right-of-way, speed and sight lines can make the difference between a close call and a tragedy.
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