‘It’s a little patchy:’ Third injured pedestrian recalls fatal Saturday morning crash in downtown Johnson City

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Riley Gowan was standing in a food truck line early Saturday morning with her friend, Macy Street, and Street's boyfriend, Ethan Saxon. The trio had been out celebrating Saxon's graduation the next day. "We left our last little place, we're like, 'We're hungry, let's find something,'" she said. "Just waiting in line for the food truck, and that's when I just saw headlights. Then I was in an ambulance." Moments after stepping in line, a car crashed in the downtown parking lot, killing 24-year-old Tony Cornett and injuring Gowan, Street, and Saxon. "I don't fully remember the ambulance ride," Gowan said. "It's a little patchy, but I remember not really having too many thoughts. I was just kind of there. I think my neck hurt a little and [my] arm for sure." According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, 36-year-old Steven Kotsonis was driving a 2021 Ford Explorer when he lost control of the vehicle, hit a curb, and drove into the West Market Street parking lot in downtown Johnson City, where he fatally struck Cornett and injured the trio. Gowan said she, Street, and Saxon did not know Cornett, but had been chatting with him in the food truck line up until the accident. Gowan was brought to the hospital and was treated for about seven to nine hours before she was released, she said. "[I have] a broken nose, lots of road rash up my arm, a gash in my forehead that had stitches and two gashes on my arm," Gowan said. "It kind of looks like claws, I'm not going to lie to you. A five inch gash on my hip that also needed stitches." Gowan also suffered gashes to her knee and toes on both feet. After being friends for three years, the accident has brought Street and Gowan closer than ever before, Gowan told News Channel 11. "Our gotcha day was like a week ago," she said. "We were already very close, but we actually started calling each other 'TT', as in 'Trauma Twin' because we're both not going anywhere in each other's lives now. That's my person. I'm hers. Same with Ethan, and really anyone that was there I think. It's hard not to become closer." Kotsonis was arraigned Monday afternoon and faced nine charges, including vehicular manslaughter and three counts of vehicular assault. He is being held in the Washington County Detention Center on a $5 million bond. His preliminary court date was set for May 21 at 1:30 p.m. Gowan told News Channel 11 she hopes the legal process brings her "peace," and despite the crash, she's on the road to recovery and is still quick to let her sense of humor shine through the situation. "I was roasting some of the people that were [stitching me up]," she said. "And my nails stayed on."