Los Angeles Man Charged with Murder after Car Accident
On Sunday, August 9, 2015, a 19 year old Mission Hills man was involved in an accident at around 2:45AM. The 19 year old’s vehicle was a Jeep Liberty and was involved in a collision with a Toyota Carolla. Tragically, 3 of the 4 people in the Toyota Carolla lost their life.
Initially the 19 year old driver of the Jeep Liberty was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Investigators are still reconstructing the accident, but from the pile of twisted metal, many people assume that speed was also a factor.
On Tuesday, August 11, 2015, ABC7 reports the 19 year old driver of the Jeep was charged with three counts of murder and one count of driving under the influence of a drug causing injury.
The victims in this case were 4 very young men, 3 of whom are now deceased. While no amount of money can compensate anyone for the loss of a loved one, the families of the deceased will likely sue. According to this Los Angeles car accident attorney, “Often times, the settlement value of a case goes up when the at fault driver was engaging in reckless or criminal conduct.” Of course, this is not legal advice and people should speak directly to a real attorney for such advice.
It appears that DUI drivers can be prosecuted for murder in the state of California if they are DUI and involved in an accident that kills another person. DUI second degree murder is also known as a Watson Murder (see: people vs Watson).
