TACOMA — A 14-year-old has been charged with driving a car that crashed and killed a 10-year-old passenger while four boys went joyriding in Washington state.
Pleas of not guilty were entered for the teen Thursday in juvenile court, The News Tribune reported. He’s charged with vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and hit-and-run, and he’s being held at a juvenile detention center.
Dylan Wilson died in the crash Monday, and two other boys, ages 14 and 11, were injured when the car hit a power pole and then a tree in the city of Lakewood. The two older boys ran from the crash.
The children got the keys to a car belonging to the 11-year-old’s mother.
Detectives are investigating what led up to the wreck near the homes of the four boys.
Deputy prosecutor Elizabeth Vincent had said the 14-year-old authorities say was driving the car should be held in juvenile detention pending the outcome of the case.
But the boy’s attorney, Melissa Gomez, argued he should be released on electronic home monitoring because he has a good attendance record at his middle school and would benefit from returning there.
The boy’s father apologized in court, calling his son “a good kid.”
“I’m truly sorry for all this that’s going on,” the father said. “I’m sorry for the loss. It could have been my child. It could have been anybody’s child.”
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