Chase Jones, 19, who crashed into a minivan holding six passengers, killing four of them, has pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide, which could land him a maximum sentence of 23 and a half years in prison.
On April 3, Jones, who killed four people and injured two others in a March 19, 2024, crash near Renton, pleaded guilty as charged to all felony counts, according to Casey McNerthney, King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson. McNerthney said that the guilty pleas as charged on all felony counts produced the same results as if Jones had gone to trial and been convicted of the felony crimes as charged.
According to charging documents, the event data recorder in Jones’ vehicle showed that he was traveling over 100 mph during the crash. Jones’ last known address was in Kent.
The charges
• Vehicular homicide for the death of Andrea S. Hudson, 38
• Vehicular homicide for the death of Boyd “Buster” Brown, 12
• Vehicular homicide for the death of Matilda Wilcoxson, 13
• Vehicular homicide for the death of Eloise Wilcoxson, 12
• Vehicular assault for the aggravating injuries to Nolan Hudson, 14
• Vehicular assault for the aggravating injuries to Charlotte Hudson, 12
“Nothing will make up for the loss of Andrea Hudson, Boyd ‘Buster’ Brown, Matilda Wilcoxson, or Eloise Wilcoxson, and no sentence under the law can make up for the life-changing injuries and loss to Nolan and Charlotte Hudson, or the grief their loved ones and their community feels,” McNerthney said.
King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said that they would not have accepted anything less than a guilty plea as charged on all felony counts.
McNerthney said that Jones will be sentenced at 1 p.m. April 25 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, and he could receive up to 23 and a half years for vehicular homicide. Vehicular homicide is a Class A felony, and all Class A felonies have a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $50,000 fine. However, McNerthney said that sentencing across Washington is mandated according to the sentencing grid set by lawmakers, which sets the range of what a person can be sentenced to.
The sentence ranges are determined by an offender score, which is based on previous criminal history and the current offenses. McNerthney said that Jones had no traffic infraction history and no pending charges at the time of this crash, but his convictions, as charged today, gave him an offender score of 10.
McNerthney said that vehicular homicide with an offender score of 10 has a standard sentencing range set by state lawmakers of 17 and a half years to 23 and a half years. McNerthney said that under state law, a person can be convicted of multiple felony crimes, and those offenses that happened on the same day are presumed to be concurrent, meaning he will serve the sentences for each crime at the same time.
McNerthney said the surviving victims and family members of the deceased from the crash were informed of the pleas and of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s recommendation before Jones’ guilty plea as charged. According to McNerthney, Amy Freedheim, Chair of the Felony Traffic Unit, told the court at Jones’ guilty plea hearing that the surviving victims and family members of the deceased were present and supportive of the pleas as charged to the felony counts.
“They understand how the state is proceeding,” Amy Freedheim said. “They also understand that they are not bound by any recommendations to the Court and they are free to make any recommendations they wish to make to the Court at sentencing.”
Jones is currently in custody at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. The next update in the case is anticipated to be after his sentencing hearing, McNerthney said. Part of Jones’ plea includes his agreement to require a speed-limiting device on any vehicle he drives in the future.
McNerthney said that House Bill 1596, also called the Andrea Smith Hudson Act in memory of one of the victims of this crash, is a bill that is making its way through the Legislature. HB 1596 would mandate the use of intelligent speed accessory devices that are akin to ignition interlock devices for alcohol impairment. This bill would require people who were found in court to be speeding excessively to have the device in their vehicle, and required for people with suspended or revoked licenses to drive.
At 12:42 p.m. March 19, 2024, at the intersection of Southeast 192nd Street and 140th Avenue Southeast in the Cascade-Fairwood area of unincorporated King County, Jones was driving southbound in a blue Audi A4 when he collided with a beige Toyota Sienna driven by Andrea Hudson, 38, who was heading eastbound on 192nd Street through the green light at the intersection.
Charging documents report that Jones’ car T-boned the minivan, which also held the five passengers: Matilda Wilcoxson, Eloise Wilcoxson, Boyd Brown, and Hudson’s children, Nolan Hudson and Charlotte Hudson.
Andrea Hudson, Matilda Wilcoxson, Eloise Wilcoxson, and Boyd Brown were pronounced dead at the scene of the collision, while Nolan Hudson and Charlotte Hudson were transported to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Jones was transported to Harborview Medical Center.
The following day, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office listed “multiple blunt force injuries” as the manner of death for Andrea Hudson, Matilda Wilcoxson, Eloise Wilcoxson and Boyd Brown.
According to the police report, the force of the impact from Jones’ car caused Hudson’s minivan to collide with two more vehicles, where one other driver received non-life-threatening injuries.
Described as an “incredibly violent collision,” the force of the impact caused the minivan to roll and come to a rest 125 feet south of the intersection.
“The impact was so severe it caused approximately three feet of intrusion into the passenger compartment and the fire department had to cut off the roof to extract the occupants,” said King County Sheriff’s Office Detective Justin Langhofer in the report.
Jones’ Audi ended up 126 feet past the point of impact, coming to rest on a retaining wall and chain-link fence on the east side of the road. According to police, the vehicle caught fire after the collision, but was extinguished by a witness.
Police obtained a search warrant for the vehicle, including the event data recorder, which corroborated witness accounts that Jones was traveling over 100 mph “prior to the collision and immediately prior to running the red light was at or near full throttle.”
“[He] did not make any attempts to slow down as he approached the intersection,” said Det. Langhofer, who reported that Jones was involved in two prior vehicle collisions within the last year, where his speeding had been a factor in both incidents.
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