Fairfax County police charged a Pimmit Hills teenager with manslaughter in connection with a crash where five teens were ejected from an SUV he was driving.
Kevin Guardado Landaverde, 14, an eighth grader who attended Longfellow Middle School in McLean, died in the crash the Monday before Thanksgiving. He and six other teens between the ages of 14 and 17 were in the vehicle, police said.
The driver, who was 17 at the time, faces a charge of DUI-related manslaughter, four counts of DUI maiming, and refusal of a breath test, Fairfax County police said Friday.
The police arrested him at his home Thursday. He’s being held on no bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
At the time of the the 5 a.m. crash on Shreve Road near Pioneer Lane, police said the teen was behind the wheel of a 2003 Lincoln Aviator and speeding. They said he lost control as the SUV crested the top of a hill.
The vehicle went airborne and struck a tree, ejecting five teens. A sixth had to be extricated from the SUV. The driver managed to get out on his own.
“What is clear is that speed and alcohol were absolutely factors of the crash. Most of the juveniles, from what we have been able to determine so far, were not wearing their seatbelts,” said Lt. James Curry with Fairfax County police, after the crash.
Feature image courtesy Fairfax County Police Department/Facebook
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