Woman dies after crashing into a wall on Tucson's east side

A woman has died after she crashed into a wall on Tucson’s east side Thursday morning.

Joann Ester Heitzman, 51, was driving a white Chevy Astro van eastbound on East 28th Street — near Craycroft Road and East 29th Street — when she abruptly drove south, went off the roadway and crashed into several garbage cans, Tucson police said. The van then suddenly accelerated in a northeastern direction, striking a block wall and palm tree.

Heitzman was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but her condition rapidly declined and she died at the hospital, police said.

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Police determined that Heitzman was not impaired at the time of the crash.

Investigators believe a medical issue could have played a role in the crash.