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13-year-old driver charged after crash kills 9-year-old cousin and 2 teens, MO cops say

The “lone survivor” of a crash that killed two teenagers and a 9-year-old child in Missouri is facing three counts of involuntary manslaughter, police said.

The 13-year-old driver is now being held at the St. Louis County Family Courts on the three charges, according to a June 29 news release from the Florissant Police Department.

An investigation into the deadly crash found the 13-year-old driver took a family member’s decommissioned police K9 vehicle without permission.

The teen was driving a 9-year-old cousin and two other 13-year-old passengers who were not related, authorities said.

The 2011 Ford Expedition crashed into a tree early Monday, June 27, and “immediately caught fire,” police said, “engulfing the entire vehicle.”

Authorities say “speed and inexperienced driving” contributed to the fatal crash.

A neighbor heard the commotion at about 2 a.m., according to KSDK.

“I heard a boom and I thought it was something in my house and maybe my son had done something,” Dwayne Elliot told the TV station. “I got about halfway down the driveway and the car just exploded. It just exploded and I heard a guy saying I think there’s someone in the car.”

Police say the driver’s family member legally purchased the SUV after the Hillsdale Police Department sold it to a tow company. The vehicle still had its K9 partition, which separates the back seat from the cargo area.

The teenager is the only person facing charges, though the crash investigation is ongoing.

“This is a horrible tragedy for the families and everyone involved and we continue to offer our sincere condolences to the families of the victims during this extreme time of grief,” police said.

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