A 19-year-old is facing up to 31 years in prison for a crash involving two semi trucks that killed a young woman.
Cortez Moore was charged on November 16th for an accident that occurred on November 14th involving his vehicle, a semi truck, and another big rig legally parked on the side of the road.
According to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Moore was traveling westbound in the left lane of I-94 near Madison, Wisconsin around 11:45 p.m. with two passengers when a semi truck in the right lane began merging into their lane. Moore then apparently became “frightened” and lost control of his car, causing it to spin. As the car spun, it struck another semi truck parked on the side of the road before crashing into a nearby ditch.
Just then, a private ambulance happened to drive by and attempted to assist the motorists, but they were too late. When police arrived, one of the first responders told deputies that a 19-year-old woman passenger in the car had “obvious head trauma” and was unresponsive. The Waukesha County medical examiner later pronounced the woman deceased at the scene. The victim’s name has not been released pending investigation.
Upon speaking with police, the second passenger in the car told officers that the three of them had smoked half a joint of marijuana before heading to Madison, where Moore lived. Moore later admitted to police that he did not believe he had been impaired by the marijuana.
Deputies then investigated the stopped semi truck, which they determined to be parked legally on the westbound shoulder of I-94.
When interviewed, the unnamed truck driver said he had not felt the impact of the crash and had not seen anything in his mirrors. He told police that he had pulled over onto the shoulder to put in eye drops and had activated his hazard lights before the accident.
Moore is scheduled to appear in court on November 20th on charges of driving with a suspended license, causing death and homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, using a controlled substance. He is currently being held in Waukesha County Jail on a $20,000 cash bond.
