Driver faces slew of charges in death of two people in LAPD pursuit

KTLA

LOS ANGELES - The 20-year-old driver of a Cadillac who allegedly slammed into another vehicle while trying to evade police, killing a man and a woman in South Los Angeles, was due in court Monday to face a slew of potential criminal charges including manslaughter.

Matthew Sutton of Los Angeles was arrested on two counts of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, two counts of fleeing a police officer's motor vehicle causing death and one count of hit and run driving resulting in injury to another person, police said.

Sutton, who is being held on $550,000 bail, also had an outstanding burglary warrant for $200,000, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The victims in the Aug. 19 collision were identified as Jamarae Keyes, 38, who died from blunt force traumatic injuries and 35-year-old Downey resident Janisha Harris, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said. Keyes' city of residence was not immediately available.

An autopsy on Harris was pending, the coroner's office said.

Sutton was driving a Cadillac near Manchester Avenue and Main Street at around 4 a.m. on Aug. 19 when officers tried to stop him for allegedly speeding, LAPD Officer Jeff Lee said. They made attempts to stop the Cadillac by intermittently activating their emergency lights and siren independently.

Shortly after the Cadillac turned west onto Manchester Avenue from Main Street, the officers activated their emergency lights and siren for approximately 15 seconds, the LAPD said. The Cadillac then accelerated away from the officers, who turned off the lights and siren, indicating they would no longer be attempting to stop the vehicle, police said.

Moments later, the Cadillac ran a red light and collided with a 2014 BMW 535i that was going southbound on Broadway, resulting in the deaths of Keyes and Harris. A truck and another vehicle were damaged in the crash, but no one was injured in those vehicles, police said.

Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

After the collision, Sutton allegedly exited through the driver's side door and ran westbound on Manchester. He was arrested along with three other occupants of the Cadillac.

Police said it was later determined that all four suspects were implicated in a string of burglaries in the Camarillo and Moorpark areas of Ventura County. The LAPD is working with the Ventura County Sheriff's Department in pursuing burglary charges against all four.

The other three men's names were not immediately available.

The LAPD added that the department is preparing a critical incident video of the pursuit, "given the gravity of this terrible incident as well as the family's desire."