A man found guilty of killing four people in a car crash at South By Southwest festival last year has been sentenced to life in jail without parole.
Rashad Owens, 23, was arrested after killing four and injuring more than 20 others on March 13, 2014 when driving through a closed street on which there were a number of venues taking part in the music festival. Police state that Owens was intoxicated at the time of his arrest.
Steven Craenmehr, 35, from Amsterdam, local woman Jamie Ranae West, 27, plus Deandre Tatum, 18 and Sandy Le, 27, died in the crash.
After pleading not guilty to a charge of capital murder in September, The Austin-American Statesman reports that Owens has now been sentenced, after a jury unanimously agreed that Owens “intentionally or knowingly caused the death of two or more people.”
PAProsecutor Amy Meredith argued: “There is no other answer than that the defendant knew what he was doing – and he didn’t care. He didn’t care who was in his way. He was not going to be stopped. He was not going to go to jail.”
Meanwhile, defense lawyer Rick Jones said: “We don’t know at what point Mr Owens perceived what was in front of him. We don’t know what time he had to react.”
Owens was an aspiring rapper who was scheduled to play a late-night show at Club 1808 as part of the SXSW festival.