Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OREM — An Orem man now faces criminal charges accusing him of hitting and killing two BYU students.
Ceasar Castellon-Flores, 20, was charged Monday in 4th District Court with two counts of manslaughter, a second-degree felony.
About 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 15, Castellon-Flores was driving a Jeep Cherokee on State Street when the traffic signal at the intersection at 400 South in Orem turned yellow, according to charging documents. Castellon-Flores was already traveling at a high rate of speed as he approached the light, and then sped up when the light changed, the charges state.
Hailee York, 21, of Lehi, and Ashlyn Hanzon, 21, of Pearland, Texas, were making a left turn onto 400 South when Castellon-Flores smashed into their Chevy Malibu, according to the charges.
"In surveillance video, (Castellon-Flores') vehicle is traveling at a higher rate of speed than any of the other vehicles and can be seen passing surrounding vehicles in the southbound lanes as he approaches the intersection. When the light turned yellow, (he) increased speed instead of slowing down like the other southbound cars," the charges state. "He was traveling at 68 mph in a 40 mph zone and was increasing speed to 73 mph when he hit the victims' vehicle."
Castellon-Flores is an undocumented citizen and did not have a valid license at the time of the crash, according to a police booking affidavit.
