KANSAS CITY—A Kansas man faces multiple felony charges in connection with the deaths of two persons killed when 30-year-old Chales T. Matthews crashed into their vehicle as he attempted to flee from police, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.
Matthews of Kansas City, Kansas, faces two counts of Murder 2nd Degree for killing in a vehicular collision two men while the defendant was perpetrating the crime of Restisting Arrest or, in the alternative, Involuntary Manslaughter 1st Degree, as well as Resisting A Lawful Stop and Tampering with a Motor Vehicle 1st Degree.
According to court records, on Jan. 7, police were dispatched to the 400 block of N. 18th Street in KCK on a reported armed robbery.
Officers determined a white 2013 GMC Terrain had been stolen after the defendant allegedly threatened a teen with a knife. KCK police officers later attempted to stop the vehicle and pursued it into Kansas City, MO. The vehicle fled throughout Downtown Kansas City, then turned eastbound on Independence Avenue.
The vehicle reached high speeds, disregarded traffic signals and, at Hardesty Avenue, crashed into a Nissan Altima after the GMC Terrain failed to stop at a red light. Gabriela K. Trejo-Garcia, dob: 12/28/1978, and Juan Avila, dob: 4/11/1996, both died of injuries sustained in the crash.