RENTON, WA - On Friday, March 22nd, an 18-year-old who was recklessly driving and killed a woman and three children, was charged by King County prosecutors.
According to KOMO News, the driver, identified as Chase Daniel Jones, has been charged with four counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of vehicular assault and reckless driving. His bail has been set at $1 million and his arraignment has been set for April 4th. The deadly incident happened midday, just before 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19th near the intersection of Southeast 192nd Street and 140th Avenue Southeast.
As a result of the crash, four people were killed, three were seriously injured and an eighth person suffered minor injuries. Officials confirmed that 38-year-old Andrea Smith Hudson, 13-year-old Matilda Wilcoxson, 12-year-old Eloise Wilcoxson and 12-year-old Boyd Buster Brown were killed in the crash.
According to the initial investigation, all four were "immediately killed" in what has been described as an "incredibly violent collision."
Court documents state that Hudson was driving a minivan eastbound on Southeast 192nd Street with five children when they were "t-boned by a speeding southbound driver." The documents also said that the two remaining children from Hudson's vehicle are in the intensive care unit with brain bleeds, internal injuries and broken bones.
No other people in the two other vehicles also hit in the collision were substantially injured. Prosecutors said that witnesses to the crash observed Jones "speeding and weaving around other traffic," adding that his driving was captured on video. Data taken from Jones' car showed that he was traveling at 112 mph when he ran a red light at the intersection. Prosecutors said that he was at "full throttle without braking."
Investigators found out that this was Jones' third vehicle he as totaled in a crash involving high speeds within the last 11 months. According to KIRO7, the speed limit on the road that the crash happened on is 40 mph. Chuck Hurt, a father who have lived in the area for 15 years said that some drivers are often speeding up to 80 mph on a long stretch of the road.
He said, "Exceptionally dangerous driving going north and south on 140th. I would see speeds in excess of 60 or 70 or even 80 miles per hour sometimes. It's not unusual." He added, "The middle lane, the merge lane, people will start using it as a passing lane. So instead of getting over, they try to get around you and it's not uncommon. The worst fears imaginable that a mass fatality actually happened because this is something we've been worried about in this community for a long time."
Jones reportedly suffered an internal injury that required surgery and a fractured leg and ribs. Casey McNerthney with the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office said in a statement, "When you look at homicide cases, the most random types of homicides are vehicle homicides, not just in King County, but across Washington state."
McNerthney added, "When you have people who are accused of crimes like this, it's very important to get that before the courts. Reckless driving is one of the charges that was filed. And that is an important one to get before the court." Jones bought the 2015 Audi A4 a month before the accident. He was involved in three other crashes in the past year.
According to KOMO News, the first crash happened in May 2023 on Southeast 204th Street in Kent. Body camera video from the incident obtained by KOMO News shows Jones reportedly admitting to a police officer that he was speeding at the time of the crash. He said, "I saw an open road. I was definitely going above the speed limit of 25."
The next crash happened in January. In charging documents, prosecutors said, "[Jones] totaled another vehicle, the other driver complained that he had not seen [Jones] due to [Jones] speed. In both of these crashes, [Jones] parents were at the crash prior to the police."
According to KOMO News, the driver, identified as Chase Daniel Jones, has been charged with four counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of vehicular assault and reckless driving. His bail has been set at $1 million and his arraignment has been set for April 4th. The deadly incident happened midday, just before 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19th near the intersection of Southeast 192nd Street and 140th Avenue Southeast.
As a result of the crash, four people were killed, three were seriously injured and an eighth person suffered minor injuries. Officials confirmed that 38-year-old Andrea Smith Hudson, 13-year-old Matilda Wilcoxson, 12-year-old Eloise Wilcoxson and 12-year-old Boyd Buster Brown were killed in the crash.
According to the initial investigation, all four were "immediately killed" in what has been described as an "incredibly violent collision."
Court documents state that Hudson was driving a minivan eastbound on Southeast 192nd Street with five children when they were "t-boned by a speeding southbound driver." The documents also said that the two remaining children from Hudson's vehicle are in the intensive care unit with brain bleeds, internal injuries and broken bones.
No other people in the two other vehicles also hit in the collision were substantially injured. Prosecutors said that witnesses to the crash observed Jones "speeding and weaving around other traffic," adding that his driving was captured on video. Data taken from Jones' car showed that he was traveling at 112 mph when he ran a red light at the intersection. Prosecutors said that he was at "full throttle without braking."
Investigators found out that this was Jones' third vehicle he as totaled in a crash involving high speeds within the last 11 months. According to KIRO7, the speed limit on the road that the crash happened on is 40 mph. Chuck Hurt, a father who have lived in the area for 15 years said that some drivers are often speeding up to 80 mph on a long stretch of the road.
He said, "Exceptionally dangerous driving going north and south on 140th. I would see speeds in excess of 60 or 70 or even 80 miles per hour sometimes. It's not unusual." He added, "The middle lane, the merge lane, people will start using it as a passing lane. So instead of getting over, they try to get around you and it's not uncommon. The worst fears imaginable that a mass fatality actually happened because this is something we've been worried about in this community for a long time."
Jones reportedly suffered an internal injury that required surgery and a fractured leg and ribs. Casey McNerthney with the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office said in a statement, "When you look at homicide cases, the most random types of homicides are vehicle homicides, not just in King County, but across Washington state."
McNerthney added, "When you have people who are accused of crimes like this, it's very important to get that before the courts. Reckless driving is one of the charges that was filed. And that is an important one to get before the court." Jones bought the 2015 Audi A4 a month before the accident. He was involved in three other crashes in the past year.
According to KOMO News, the first crash happened in May 2023 on Southeast 204th Street in Kent. Body camera video from the incident obtained by KOMO News shows Jones reportedly admitting to a police officer that he was speeding at the time of the crash. He said, "I saw an open road. I was definitely going above the speed limit of 25."
The next crash happened in January. In charging documents, prosecutors said, "[Jones] totaled another vehicle, the other driver complained that he had not seen [Jones] due to [Jones] speed. In both of these crashes, [Jones] parents were at the crash prior to the police."
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Comments
2024-03-29T10:27-0400 | Comment by: Kent
But, but, it's a Blue State. Can't you do whatever you want without repercussions?
2024-03-30T08:15-0400 | Comment by: DS
WASHINGTON.................. what a cesspool of TRASH.
2024-03-30T23:01-0400 | Comment by: Mortimer
Stupid know-it-all punk kid with a rotten attitude. I blame the parents for this too. If one of my kids had ONE ticket that was their fault, they would have lost their driving PRIVILEGES for a month (and no cell phone use), 2nd time 6 months and no cell phone along with grounded for a month. 3rd time....loss of vehicle and one year of all the above! This punk's parents ENABLED him to behave that way! Now an innocent family is gone because of IDIOT PARENTING!!!