A June 10 jury trial has been set for a Durango man charged with three counts of manslaughter after he was accused of causing a crash on an Oklahoma highway in March 2017 that killed a woman and her two grandchildren.
Lincoln County (Oklahoma) District Attorney Allan Grubb did not return calls seeking comment, nor did the teen’s attorney, John Mac Hayes.
Authorities say that March 18, 2017, Noah Alexander DeDear, who was then 17 years old, left New Mexico about 4 a.m. to visit relatives in Arkansas, traveling alone in his guardian’s 1999 Ford F-350 truck.
About 1:30 p.m., authorities say DeDear failed to stop on the Turner Turnpike (Interstate 44) between Tulsa and Oklahoma City, where traffic was at a standstill after smoke from a grass fire closed the highway.
According to police reports, DeDear crashed into the back of a 2008 Saab, pushing that vehicle into two vehicles in front of it.
Three people died in the 2008 Saab SUV: Linda Irie, 50, and her two grandchildren, Brooklyn Newville, 9, and Jace Newville, 5. A third child, who was their cousin, Isabelle Anthony, 6, survived.
Authorities in March 2018 decided to try DeDear – who was days away from this 18th birthday – as an adult. In January 2019, he entered a not guilty plea.
According to police records obtained by The Durango Herald through an open records request, authorities suspect DeDear was distracted while driving.
According to the crash report, the line of sight on the highway was clear, and the stopped traffic should have been visible a mile away.
Authorities determined DeDear was traveling 77 mph when he hit the stopped vehicles, and investigations at the scene found no signs of DeDear braking moments before impact.
At the scene, DeDear gave differing accounts of what happened in the seconds before the crash.
He indicated to one officer that he might have passed out. He told another officer that he had taken a drink of Gatorade and when he looked up, it was too late to stop.
“He was very inconsistent with his description of what happened,” an Oklahoma State Patrol Trooper wrote in his report. “He described that he felt like his head had been pushed down, and when he looked up he was in an accident.”
Officers asked DeDear whether he was on his cellphone, and he responded that he sent a text message a few minutes before the crash, and then received two messages from his grandmother and girlfriend while driving. He said he did not read the texts.
At the hospital, DeDear tested negative for drugs or alcohol in his system.
It is unclear what penalties the DA seeks, but conviction on a second-degree manslaughter charge can carry a sentence of two to four years in a state penitentiary or up to one year in a county jail or a fine not to exceed $1,000, or both.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
