A Shaler teenager has been charged with felony homicide in connection with Route 8 crash in Hampton over the summer.
On Monday, 19-year-old Caleb Stevens was charged with a June 28 crash that killed a 72-year-old woman.
Stevens had been driving on Route 8 at approximately 91 mph just before his car hit Richland resident Jean Carroll’s Subaru Impreza, according to a criminal complaint.
Hampton Police responded to the two-vehicle accident at the intersection of Route 8 and Old Route 8 at approximately 3:45 p.m.
When police arrived they found Stevens standing next to his 2013 Kia Rio in the parking lot of a massage parlor. Carroll was entrapped in the driver’s seat of her vehicle in the southbound lane and was being treated by emergency medical services.
While on the scene, officers were approached by multiple witnesses who told police that Stevens was speeding along Route 8 and had passed them going an excess of 80 mph prior to the crash.
Stevens, who did not appear to be impaired, told police that he was driving too fast and didn’t notice his speed until it was too late.
“I should have slowed down, I knew I should have,” Steven said according to the complaint.
Carroll was extracted from her vehicle and transported to Allegheny General Hospital where she died roughly three hours later.
Stevens, who had fresh blood on his face and hands, was transported to UPMC Mercy in Oakland.
According to court documents, police contacted the Northern Regional Police Department’s accident reconstruction team. They determined that Stevens had been traveling between 79 and 84 mph when he crashed into Carroll’s car.
Witnesses told police that at the time of the collision, Carroll was driving north in the northbound lane of Route 8 and had begun making a left turn onto Old Route 8 when the crash occurred, according to the complaint.
According to court documents, an alternator from one of the vehicles became dislodged in the impact and struck the front passenger side of a nearby parked car.
The complaint did not indicate whether anyone was inside the parked vehicle at the time of the crash.
The police report described William Flinn Highway (Route 8) at the crash site as a four-lane, undivided roadway that runs mostly straight, aside from a slight right curve about 600 feet from where the collision occurred.
“The posted speed limit is 40 mph … there were numerous crash-related post-impact tire marks, deposited by both vehicles involved,” the complaint said.
An investigation determined there was no indication that Stevens attempted to brake prior to the collision and “in fact attempted to accelerate and swerve” around the front of Carroll’s vehicle.
Had Stevens been driving any speed less than 75 mph, Carroll would have had time to complete the turn and the crash would not have taken place, the complaint said.
Stevens was also charged with a first-degree misdemeanor of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree misdemeanor of recklessly endangering another person in addition to summary offenses of driving at a safe speed, exceeding speed limits and reckless driving.
Stevens did not have an attorney listed on the court documents on Monday.
He awaits a preliminary hearing.
