Case # 17HF1711
December 20, 2017
DRUNKEN DRIVER CHARGED WITH MURDERING UCI GRADUATES AND STUDENT IN HIGH-SPEED COLLISION AFTER RUNNING RED LIGHT IN IRVINE
*Defendant also charged with injuring fourth student who sustained brain trauma
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A drunken driver was charged with murdering two University of California, Irvine (UCI) graduates and a UCI student, as well as injuring a fourth student, in a high-speed collision after running a red light in Irvine.
|
Defendant |
Charges |
Maximum Sentence |
Court Date |
|
Jeremy Wayne Greenwood, 30, Rialto |
Charged on Dec. 19, 2017, with the following felony counts:
Sentencing Enhancements
|
51 years to life in state prison |
Arraignment Dec. 21, 2017, 10:00 a.m. Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana Bail: $2 million |
Circumstances of the Case
- On July 1, 2017, at approximately 3:00 a.m., Greenwood is accused of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) at approximately 86 miles per hour northbound on Harvard in Irvine. The defendant has a prior DUI conviction in Los Angeles in 2012 and was advised a future DUI resulting in death could be charged as murder.
- The defendant is accused of running a red light at the intersection of Harvard and Michelson and striking the victims’ car, which was traveling with four passengers westbound on Michelson with a green light.
- The victims’ car rotated, traveled over the sidewalk on Harvard, and came to rest next to a hedge.
- Witnesses called 911 and removed the defendant from his car, which caught fire following the collision.
- The Irvine Police Department (IPD) and emergency medical responders pronounced 23-year-old Kasean Herrera and 24-year-old Jeremy Shankling dead at the scene. The victims were best friends and UCI graduates working as software engineers. Shankling was employed as an IT Application Developer with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
- 19-year-old London Thibodeaux and 20-year-old Jane Doe, who both attended UCI, were taken to a local hospital.
- On July 5, 2017, Thibodeaux was pronounced dead as a result of injuries sustained in the collision.
- Jane Doe suffered a traumatic brain injury, endured multiple organ surgeries, and was in a medically induced coma following the collision.
- IPD investigated this case extensively for five months and arrested Greenwood today at his home in Rialto.
Prosecutor: Senior Deputy District Attorney Whitney Bokosky, Homicide Unit