A suspected drunk driver who was speeding at 194 kilometres per hour killed a high school student weeks before his graduation after he crashed into their car near the city of Chicago.
The horrific accident happened last Sunday when Marko Niketic, 17, was driving with his 16-year-old girlfriend in Glenview, a city in the US state of Illinois.
The driver of the car was identified as 21-year-old Taeyoung Kim who was driving his 2021 Ford Mustang with a passenger from his home in Northbrook to downtown Chicago and back.
“The investigation revealed at 2308 hours (11:08 p.m.) on May 12, Kim drove his vehicle westbound on East Lake Ave, at a high rate of speed in a reckless manner,” the Glenview Police Department said, according to broadcaster NBC.
Kim crashed his car into Niketic’s car while the latter was making a left turn. A driver speaking to broadcaster NBC said that Kim was racing past other cars and had even turned his headlights off.
The front of Kim’s car struck the driver’s side of Niketic’s vehicle and split it into half. Even though the front half of Niketic’s sedan remained in the road, the rest of it was sent flying through the air above a nearby fence and landed in a backyard.
Witnesses inside the homes near the scene quickly rushed Niketic inside his vehicle along with his girlfriend. They also spotted Kim sitting inside his car and admitting that he was drinking. His co-passenger was lying on the ground bleeding heavily. Niketic was pronounced dead at the scene.
His girlfriend and Kim’s passenger were quickly taken to the hospital. Both of them were in critical condition.
Niketic’s girlfriend, whose identity has not been disclosed, suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage, a hematoma of the brain, a fracture of the pelvis vertebrae, and hyper-density of the left frontal lobe of the brain, resulting in loss of consciousness and seizures. She was released on Friday.
Kim’s passenger sustained a fractured back and a severed artery in the crash.
Kim suffered a broken femur, and a blood test revealed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.088 and cannabis in his system.
During their investigation, police found a bong, rolling papers, a one-hitter cannabis pipe with residue, and two plastic containers with cannabis residue inside Kim’s vehicle.
He was arrested on Friday and is being held without bond. He appeared in court on Saturday.
He was charged with two counts of aggravated DUI causing death, reckless homicide, aggravated DUI causing great bodily harm, DUI of alcohol, DUI of drugs, and several traffic violations including speeding 35 mph over the limit.
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