The driver of a car that plowed through a crowd at SXSW last year and killed four people has been given the strongest possible punishment. Rashad Owens, 23, has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in the hit and run in Austin, Texas.
The incident was a tragic cap on a night that had previously been an unprecedented success for Crave, with Lady Gaga, Odd Future, Reignwolf and more appearing at our massive SXSW party. Celebration soon turned to chaos and confusion, however, when partygoers leaving the show were involved in the incident just up the street.
Concluding a weeklong trial, the jury found that Mr. Owens was aware of his actions and knew that his conduct could have fatal repercussions when he drove into a festival crowd at 9th and Red River streets, after driving through a pedestrian-only barrier and speeding away from a policeman. The car, pursued by police, went through a gas station and went the wrong way up one-way street. The driver dove through a barrier at a high speed at 12:30am local time, striking two groups of people, a moped and a van.
“There is no other answer than that the defendant knew what he was doing — and he didn’t care,” prosecutor Amy Meredith told the courtroom, according to MyStatesman. “He didn’t care who was in his way. He was not going to be stopped. He was not going to go to jail.”
The jury also heard recollections from witnesses and from family members of the deceased, who recounted to Owens the impact his actions had on their lives. Jurors heard detailed recollections from witnesses who saw the former aspiring rapper speed a Honda Civic into throngs of people, as bodies hit its windshield and “were thrown high into the air”.
