VERO BEACH — DNA evidence left on a steering wheel airbag led police to nab a man suspected of speeding in his girlfriend’s vehicle before crashing into a wooden power pole and two trees. The woman died in the wreck while the man ran from the crash site, according to the Vero Beach Police Department.
Michael Slaughter PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Slaughter, 32, of the 4200 block of 25th Avenue, Gifford, was charged with vehicular homicide, failure to stop or remain at crash involving death and driving while license suspended causing death. Slaughter was held Friday at the Indian River County Jail on a $1.75 million bond.
Slaughter, who had minor injuries from the crash, was arrested at his home, according to police spokesperson Officer Kelsea Callahan.
Vero Beach police previously asked the public for help in identifying the driver of the four-door Hyundai Elantra. The impact snapped the power poles in half and left the 26-year-old Vero Beach passenger – Crystina Atkinson – entrapped in the vehicle.
Police said Atkinson was the owner of the Hyundai.
Vero Beach police responded to the collision shortly before 10 p.m. on March 30 in the 3700 block of 43rd Avenue. Officers found the Hyundai wrapped around a tree.
The car’s passenger side door had heavy damage, police said. Atkinson was the only person in the vehicle.
“She was seat belted in the front passenger seat and was unresponsive when fire rescue removed her from the vehicle,” police officials said in a statement. A search was conducted in the area for any other potential victims but no one was located.”
Traffic homicide investigators went to the crash site and combed the area and car for evidence. Investigators determined the Hyundai was traveling at a high rate of speed when it rotated, slid off the roadway and entered the grass shoulder, police said.
“The vehicle slid in the grass until the passenger side door collided with a wooden utility pole, which broke the pole into pieces,” police said. “The passenger side of the vehicle then collided with a large tree and came to a rest against another tree that was several feet away.”
A license plate reader captured the car traveling back and forth along 43rd Avenue moments before the collision. Fire rescue used machinery to cut open the vehicle to free Atkinson’s body, said Steve Greer, Assistant Fire Chief with Indian River County Fire Rescue.
Greer said the driver’s door to the Hyundai was open. The woman was taken to Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead, Greer said.
Police worked to determine who was the driver of the Hyundai when it crashed. Officers credited the community for coming forward to help identify the person who was behind the wheel.
“With the help of several members of the community, along with cell phone and video evidence, a suspect was identified,” police said.
Police arrested Slaughter and booked him into the county jail. Slaughter has an arraignment at 8:45 a.m. Sept. 15, court records show.
