The attendees and organizers affected by the March 13 tragedy, where a drunk driver plowed into a crowd of concertgoers, will long be haunted by the event. The effects of the incident continue to linger more than two weeks after the disaster: A fourth victim was pronounced dead due to injuries resulting from the event.
De'Andre Tatum, an 18 y.o. from nearby Fort Worth, died Thursday night at University Medical Center Brackenridge. The teenager had been in a medically-induced coma following the incident.
Tatum and a total of 25 concertgoers and Austin residents were outside of a venue at the SXSW festival when a drunken driver trying to evade arrest, Rashad Charjuan Owens, drove the wrong way down a one-way street and struck the crowd before crashing and being arrested. Two pedestrians were declared dead at the scene: Jamie West, an Austin resident, and Steven Craenmehr of the Netherlands. Another Austin resident, Sandy Le, was pronounced dead four days later. She was was also being treated at University Medical Center.
Owens is currently being held at the Travis County Jail, with bail set at $3 million. Austin police chief Art Acevedo had stated that the driver had "intentionally" run down victims, which doesn't bode well for his case. Owens had previously been charges with capital murder for the three deaths and more than 20 counts of aggravated assault for the other injuries. It's not known yet whether Tatum's death will result in additional charges.
Any amount of deaths is far too many for an event such as SXSW, but we can only hope that this was the last.
© 2024 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
