SALT LAKE CITY — The man accused of driving the wrong way on Interstate 15 early Saturday and killing two teenagers was allegedly involved in a sexual assault incident just before the deadly crash, according to the Salt Lake City Police Department.
Jose Angel Torres Jimenez, 21, faces two charges of Automobile Homicide, along with DUI and wrong-way driving, following the crash in which he was heading south in the northbound lanes of I-15 near 2100 South when he crashed head-on into a vehicle.
Two teenagers, 17-year-old Anneka Wilson and 18-year-old Leo Shepherd, were killed instantly as their Nissan Rogue was fully engulfed in flames.
Sanpete County students, staff mourn loss of two teens killed in wrong-way crash:
Salt Lake City police said just before the deadly crash at 2 a.m., their officers were responding to a possible sexual assault incident blocks away from where the accident occurred. As the officers were heading to the alleged assault scene, they received another call about a wrong-way driver on I-15.
Video below shows aftermath of deadly I-15 accident (Samuel Campbell):
The department said it is currently investigating whether the assault incident was related to the fatal crash, and they are unsure whether Jimenez was fleeing the scene of the alleged assault before crashing into the teens.
