An investigation of a Lakewood crash last month that killed a teenager has been turned over by prosecutors to a Jefferson County grand jury.
The head-on collision in the Green Mountain area March 13 killed Samara Stricklen, 17. Police have said they believe a 16- year-old girl caused the crash and was driving drunk at the time.
On Monday, Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey announced the case is going before a grand jury.
“The complex nature of the facts surrounding this fatality warrant the use of the grand jury for determination as to what charges are most appropriate,” Storey said.
The teenage suspect, whose name has not been released, was held after the crash but not charged. She is now free on a $10,000 bond.
“It’s unusual in this kind of situation, but there are lots of reasons to go to a grand jury,” said defense attorney Craig Silverman, a former prosecutor.
Silverman, who has no direct link to the case, said bringing the matter before a grand jury could be a possible “test run” to see how the community might react to the facts of the case, including the young age of the suspect.
The day of the crash on West Alameda Parkway, an off-duty police officer who was passing by arrived at the scene within seconds. He told 9News he could smell alcohol on the 16-year-old driver’s breath.
Three other teens were in the SUV with the alleged drunken driver when it struck a car carrying Stricklen. The driver of the car, Seth Mutschler, 20, was critically injured.
About a week after the fatal crash, the teen driver’s attorney, Jim Castle, asked the public not to “rush to judgment concerning what happened that fateful night.”
On Monday, Castle declined to talk about the case in detail, citing the secrecy of grand-jury proceedings.
