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John Daley Reporting The teen driver who police believe was drunk and who caused an accident that devastated a Salt Lake family is now is facing serious charges.
The District Attorney's Office is requesting that he be charged as an adult. Whether or not that happens will be up to a juvenile court judge.
Last Friday night, in a residential neighborhood on Salt Lake's east side, the car of that teen driver collided with that of the Williams family. The mother, Michele, her unborn child, and two other children, Ben and Anna, were killed. The father, Christopher, and a son, Sam, survived.
The teen driver is a senior at Skyline High.
The charges filed late today include four second degree felony counts of automobile homicide, one third degree felony count of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) resulting in serious bodily injury, also a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of an injury accident, and one misdemeanor count of a minor in possession of alcohol.
Det. Jeff Bedard, Salt Lake City Police Dept.: Anytime your drinking and driving you're going to face dire consequences. Not just you, but the victims you put in jeopardy. We would of rather obviously this never happened, but now that it has, justice needs to be served."
The DA declined a request for an interview today, but plans to hold a press conference tomorrow. The DA's office says it will ask a juvenile court judge to charge the teen as an adult. The young man could be in court soon, perhaps as early as tomorrow.
