A New Jersey man has been convicted on two counts of vehicular homicide for a drunken one-car crash in Newark that killed two passengers in 2020.
Shaquan Wiley, 39, was convicted on eight total charges, including two counts of aggravated assault by auto, for the crash that seriously wounded two others, authorities announced Tuesday. Because of his prior criminal history, Wiley could face up to life in prison, reported NJ.com.
“This case shows that when people drive drunk or at excessive speeds, it is not an accident — it is criminal recklessness,” Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Adam B. Wells told the outlet. “The lives of two young people were tragically lost, and the lives of everyone else in the vehicle were forever changed.”
Wiley, a Newark resident, was driving through the city on Jan. 25, 2020, when he reached speeds up to 84 mph on 15th Ave., according to police. With four other people in the car, Wiley lost control and crashed into a tree.
Tahtiyanah Green, 17, and Imani Exum, 21, were killed in the wreck. The other two passengers, ages 21 and 37, suffered life-threatening injuries but survived. Wiley himself was nearly killed in the crash and had to be removed from the driver’s seat by first responders.
Wiley is eligible for significant penalties at sentencing because jurors determined he was a “persistent offender” under New Jersey law, according to NJ.com. One of Wiley’s prior convictions was for vehicular manslaughter, after he killed a teenage pedestrian in a 2003 crash.