EVERETT — A Sultan teen faces additional charges for a November crash that killed 17-year-old Madison Whiddon.
A judge also recently concluded that jurors will be allowed to hear statements Anthony Box made to Washington State Patrol troopers, including alleged admissions that prior to the crash he had smoked marijuana and inhaled “Dust Off,” an aerosol cleaning product, and nitrous oxide from “Whip-Its.”
At that same hearing Box pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide and three counts of vehicular assault. His trial was rescheduled for March. Box remains out of custody.
Whiddon was ejected from the car and suffered severe head injuries. She died at the scene. Three other teenage passengers, including Whiddon’s 14-year-old sister, were seriously injured when the car launched off an embankment near Sophie Road and rolled multiple times.
Witnesses said Box and the other teens went to Wal-Mart in Monroe to buy “Dust Off,” which is intended to clean electronic equipment. The product can be abused for a quick high by inhaling, or “huffing,” the fumes.
Detectives were told that the group inhaled some of the fumes before returning to Sultan and Box huffed more as he was driving. Washington State Patrol troopers found two cans of the cleaner inside the car, another near Whiddon and two more cans near the vehicle, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Tobin Darrow wrote in charging papers.
Box was not seriously injured in the crash. He allegedly told a trooper that he’d tried inhalants for the first time that day. Based on observations, a trooper also concluded that Box was under the influence of marijuana. A witness told detectives that she’d smoked marijuana with Box a few hours before the crash.
Box’s blood was taken at the hospital for testing.
Troopers also suspect that the Sultan teen was speeding, Darrow wrote.
One witness said the car was going “pretty fast” before it drifted off the road and became airborne. Troopers were told that Box appeared to black out before the crash.
Box told a trooper he only remembered waking up in a ditch.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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