JUAB COUNTY, Utah — A woman has been charged in a deadly Juab County accident in which she may have been watching pornography on her phone before crashing into two other vehicles.
Christine Chao, 44, was charged Tuesday with one count of text messaging or email automobile homicide, a second-degree felony, for the June 12 accident on Interstate 15.
According to the charges, traffic was slowed on northbound I-15 near milepost 209 due to construction when Chao crashed her SUV into the rear of one vehicle, which then struck the vehicle directly ahead.
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All three vehicles were forced off the highway, including Chao's SUV, which crashed into a fence.
Following the accident, a passenger in the vehicle first hit by Chao, 66-year-old Scott Lichfield of Fillmore, was airlifted to the hospital, where he later died of his injuries.
Immediately after the crash, Chao allegedly admitted the accident was her fault, and officers were unable to find brake marks indicating she slowed before hitting the other vehicles.
A warrant was obtained to search Chao's phone, with officials discovering she had accessed a pornography website less than two minutes before the crash.
Chao, listed as having a California address, is scheduled to make her first court appearance on November 17.