Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Austin Police: 4th person dies from injuries in South By Southwest crash

SXSW memorial

Jay Janner/AP

In this March 15, 2014, file photo, a cross and flowers are outside The Mohawk in Austin, Texas, as a memorial to the people who died after being struck by a drunken driving suspect during the South By Southwest festival. On Thursday, March 27, 2014, police said a fourth person, DeAndre Tatum, had died of injuries in the crash.

AUSTIN, Texas — A fourth person has died of injuries suffered earlier this month when a suspected drunken driver drove into a crowd at the South By Southwest festival, police said Thursday.

Austin Police tweeted that DeAndre Tatum, 18, died of injuries suffered March 13. Police spokeswoman Veneza Bremner confirmed the accuracy of the tweet but said the department would have no further updates.

Tatum, of Fort Worth, was in a crowd outside an Austin club when the driver smashed his car through a street barricade and into the festivalgoers.

Austin resident Jamie West, 27, and Dutchman Steven Craenmehr, 35, were killed at the scene. Sandy Le, 26, died of her injuries March 17.

More than 20 others were injured.

Police have identified the driver of the vehicle as Rashad Owens, 21. He is charged with capital murder and aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, and prosecutors are expected to seek additional charges against him from a grand jury. Owens is accused of driving drunk and fleeing from police, then intentionally driving into the festival crowd.

Owens, an aspiring rapper from Killeen, is jailed on a $3 million bond.

The South By Southwest festival attracts more than 200,000 people to Austin for a technology conference, film festival and thousands of music performances.

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