Texas teenager admits involvement in fatal car accident
Vehicular manslaughter charges have been filed against a Texas teenager accused of causing a fatal car accident and fleeing from the scene. Police say the teenager surrendered to authorities the day following the accident and admitted to driving the car that killed a student from Texas Southern University.
Until the suspect turned himself in to authorities, investigators had been piecing two separate incidents together linked by a Buick LeSabre. Police say a traffic stop at about 11 p.m., seemed to connect with a deadly car accident just a short time later. It appeared to investigators that the same vehicle was involved in both incidents at about the same time.
During the traffic stop, officers questioned the two men in the Buick and asked them to get out of the car. The passenger complied, but as soon as he was out of the car, the driver hit the gas pedal and drove away. As officers were searching throughout the area for the car, they came across an accident scene. Investigators believe the Buick’s driver had been speeding down the road away from the location of the traffic stop when he struck a Nissan Altima that had three people in it.
The 27-year-old law student who died at the accident site was a backseat passenger in the Nissan. Two other occupants in the car were injured and transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment. Police say the injuries to the surviving victims were non-life-threatening.
The 17-year-old from Houston blamed for the fatal hit-and-run was formally charged with an accident involving injury and death along with a charge of manslaughter. Police say the teenager turned himself in and admitted his involvement in the crash.
Source: abclocal.go.com, “Teen charged in hit-and-run crash that killed TSU law student,” Oct. 21, 2011