Murder Trial in Deadly SXSW Crash Begins

The murder trial for a 23-year-old man accused of killing four people and injuring more than 20 others after driving into a crowd at the 2014 South by Southwest festival began on Monday.

Rashad Owens, an aspiring rapper and father of six, is accused of driving through a a festival crowd and killing 35-year-old Steven Craenmehr of Amsterdam, Holland; Austin resident Jamie West, 27; DeAndre Tatum, 18; and Sandy Le, 26.

According to the Austin American-Statesman, witnesses described horrifying scenes of bodies flying through the air and a chaotic nightmare.

“Bodies were flying in the air as the defendant continued to hit victims without stopping,” prosecutor Amy Meredith told the jury in Austin, according to the paper.

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Owens is charged with one count of capital murder, four counts of federal murder and 24 counts of aggravated assault. Police said that Owens fled from an officer when he was pulled over at a gas station on the I-35 service road, drove the wrong way down Ninth Street - a one-way street - and through a SXSW barricade. Police said he then drove through a group of pedestrians standing outside of Mohawk, a popular bar and music venue, killing Craenmehr and West. Tatum and Le died from injuries in the days that followed.

After being treated and released for minor injuries sustained in the crash, Owens agreed to a breath test, which showed his blood-alcohol content as .114, according an arrest affidavit. The legal blood-alcohol limit in Texas in .08. He pled not guilty to the crash in September.

Owens faces an automatic sentence of life without parole if convicted of capital murder. Should the jury not convict him, jurors can consider four lesser offenses of murder. Each murder offense carries a punishment of five years to life in prison.

[Photo: Travis County Jail]