A 19-year-old has been arrested on felony charges stemming from a Wednesday car accident.
According to the Amarillo Police Department, Adam Christian Banbury, 19, has been charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle and two counts of intoxication assault with a vehicle stemming from an accident that took place on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, officers were dispatched to the 10800 block of Interstate 40 on the report of a traffic collision. Police say that two vehicles were travelling eastbound just before the collision. A gold 2005 Chevrolet van was in the middle lane and a blue Ford F-250 pickup was eastbound behind it, traveling at a higher rate of speed. The Ford hit the van in its rear and caused it to leave the roadway, rolling before it came to a stop on the eastbound access road. The pickup then continued eastbound for a brief time before hitting a guardrail on the overpass and rolling to the access road.
A twelve person family from Arizona was inside of the van. Two family members, a 50-year-old man and an 11-year-old female child, were pronounced dead at the scene by Judge Thomas Jones. The driver of the van, a 41-year-old female, has non-life threatening injuries. At least three other passengers also have life threatening injuries.
APD Traffic and Crime Scene investigators are still on the scene. The main lanes of IH-40 have been reopened but the access road and off ramp are blocked while officers remain there.
Following this collision, the number of people killed in collisions in Amarillo in 2018 has risen to five.
Alcohol and speed are believed to be factors in this accident.
Photo by Amarillo Police Dept.