A suspect who has killed with a vehicle before, is accused of fleeing the scene of a recent deadly accident on I-5. Twenty-one year-old Antonio Lopez was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and felony hit-and-run related to a crash that occurred in late February. Witnesses said the driver was driving at an “extreme speed” on a snowy night in Seattle when conditions on I-5 were “slushy and slick.” Police still cannot find the suspect. A temporary warrant is out for his arrest.
Lopez has been a menace on the road to according to records. The recent accident is the latest in a string of traffic violations the suspect has committed over the past six years. Lopez, in another fatal hit-and-run, killed a 21-year-old man in 2017. Lopez was 15 years old at the time according to court documents. He was brought up on charges of vehicular homicide and felony hit and run in juvenile court after striking and killing Kevin Lozoya in Issaquah.
Witnesses said Lopez was driving with “extreme speed” for the conditions on the roadway in Seattle which were slushy and slick on I-5. A Chevy tapped the bumper of a Mercedes causing both cars to spin and come to stops in the HOV lane on the freeway. Both cars turned on their hazard lights. This and the weather, slowed the traffic to 30-40 mph – much slower than usual. Traffic went pass with no problem.
On that night, Lopez was driving southbound on I-5 with such speed passing a semi-truck, the trucker was “alerted” – especially given the snowy conditions and the traffic flow,” according to court documents.
Lopez’s speed is estimated to be over 70 miles per hour when he reportedly slammed into the back of the Chevy. That caused a chain reaction crashing the Chevy into the Mercedes and the driver who was still outside on the roadway. The driver and passenger in the Chevy, 34-year-old Skyler Thorton and 38-year-old Terrell Aaron were killed.
A witness at the scene stopped to help and found Lopez and his girlfriend standing on the roadway between the Jeep and the Mercedes. When a state trooper arrived, the witness said Lopez and his girlfriend were sitting in her car. But, when the trooper went to check the car, they were gone. Police found their footprints in the snow fleeing south of the collision until they disappeared. The girlfriend’s father called Renton police and said she was willing to talk to them.
