Bristol Man Charged With Murder In DUI Crash

BRISTOL TOWNSHIP, PA — A Bristol Township man is charged with two counts of murder after a December DUI crash police say he caused on Interstate 95 killed two people.

Authorities say Kevin R. Peters, 37, of Stanford Road, was driving more than 100 m.p.h., was at roughly twice Pennsylvania's legal limit for drunk driving and never hit his brakes before the crash.

The early-morning crash on Dec. 6 killed Juan Tavarez-Santelises, 20, and Claribel Dominguez, 35, both of Philadelphia, who were in the back seat of a Toyota Sienna minivan and unable to get out after police say it was hit by Peters' speeding Mazda CX-5 SUV.

The driver and front passenger, who were Tavarez-Santelises' father and brother, each suffered severe burns and other injuries.

The Bucks County District Attorney's office said murder charges are unusual in fatal crashes, but said Monday that they are appropriate here because the victims died "as a result of Peters' extreme and prolonged disregard and indifference for the safety of those he shared the road with" that day.

According to the DA's office, data from the Mazda's onboard computer showed it was traveling between 106-115 m.p.h. just seconds before the crash. It also showed that Peters did not brake before impact, they said.

The minivan was in the southbound lane of I-95 in Bristol on their way home from work when the crash happened at about 1 a.m. Worried about a mechanical problem, the driver had turned on the minivan's hazard lights, which were active at the time of the crash.

Peters struck the minivan from behind, causing it to veer off the highway and into the shoulder, where it hit a concrete barrier and became engulfed in flames, prosecutors said.

Investigators learned that Peters had left Center City in Philadelphia about an hour before the crash. He'd been drinking at a work function that began at 5 p.m. then headed to a bar, according to prosecutors.

A blood draw performed two hours after the crash showed Peters with a blood-alcohol concentration between .151 and .169, the DA's office said. Pennsylvania's legal limit is .08.

About 15 minutes before the crash, prosecutors said, there were two 911 calls within moments of each other reporting Peters for erratic driving.