UPDATE: September 22 at 3:10 p.m.
The case moves ahead after Mount pleaded not guilty on September 21 to three counts of vehicular homicide, according to records filed in Yakima County Superior Court.
The court set Mount’s next appearance for October 29.
His trial is scheduled for November 16.
UPDATE: September 11 at 3:10 p.m.
Yakima County prosecutors have filed four counts of vehicular homicide-reckless against 19-year-old Braden Wyatt Mount in connection with the crash.
Mount made his first court appearance in Yakima Superior Court today.
According to the probable cause declaration, the crash happened when a 2015 Volkswagen Jetta traveling west on Green Valley Road hit a 2017 Subaru Legacy that was turning onto Green Valley Road from Snipes Pump Road.
Investigators said the impact struck the Subaru’s rear driver-side area, split the car apart and sent it into a dirt field.
Three juveniles died at the scene. A pregnant passenger lost her unborn child, according to court records.
The Subaru driver, identified in the filing as German Gonzalez-Verduzco, was initially arrested after the crash, but investigators later shifted their focus to the Volkswagen driver after toxicology results and crash reconstruction.
The declaration said blood testing from the State Toxicology Lab showed “None Detected.”
Investigators then got a search warrant for the Volkswagen’s event data recorder, according to the filing. Prosecutors said that data showed speeds of 125 mph about five seconds before the crash and 109 mph just before impact.
Detectives also reviewed dash-camera video and home-security footage that the declaration said showed the Volkswagen moving at a high rate of speed and continuing west after passing another vehicle.
MABTON, Wash. – A case in which a Mabton father was accused of the killing of three children in a crash on July 19 has been dismissed, according to court documents.
A dismissal order was filed in Yakima County Superior Court on Aug. 24. It states that German Gonzalez-Verduzco, 30, “had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the collision,” as was shown in a toxicology analysis.
Gonzalez-Verduzco’s three vehicular homicide charges were dismissed, and the order states that “the other driver will be charged.”
On the night of the crash, court documents alleged that Gonzalez-Verduzco failed to yield when making a left turn from Snipes Pump Road onto Green Valley Road.
A westbound driver then hit him, ejecting three children, Kevin Mateo Gonzalez-Guerrero, Ashley Gonzalez-Guerrero and Leslie Gonzalez-Guerrero, from his vehicle. All three children died.
ORIGINAL COVERAGE: Sept 1 at 8:50 p.m.
