ODESSA, Texas — NewsWest 9 has obtained the arrest affidavit for 37-year-old Benjamin Meece who was involved in a fatal crash on Friday, June 7, at the intersection of University Blvd and Oakwood Dr. Meece is facing new charges in relation to the accident: collision involving death, aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and manslaughter. The affidavit states that Meece was speeding at the time of the crash and reached up to 124 mph.
OPD and Odessa Fire Rescue responded to the fatal traffic collision involving three individuals.
The incident was first reported at approximately 9:35 a.m. and occurred on the 4800 block of University Boulevard.
The collision involved two vehicles. A Dodge Challenger, test driven by Meece, was traveling eastbound, and a Honda Accord was going westbound. The driver of the Honda, 47-year-old Quma Carrillo, was trying to turn south onto Oakwood Dr., but was struck by Meece.
It was reported that Carrillo was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.
According to OPD, Meece then fled the scene while his passenger stayed behind. According to the arrest affidavit, officers were able to find Meece underneath a piece of plywood in the backyard of a residence.
It has been noted by authorities that the individuals in the Challenger were engaged in a test drive facilitated by a local car dealership at the time of the accident.
The affidavit states that speed was a contributing factor in the crash. Officers were able to obtain a search warrant to download crash data from the Challenger. Once they reviewed the crash data, it revealed that Meece used 100 percent throttle and reached speeds up to 124 mph.
According to the affidavit, officers were able to see video from businesses on University Blvd. While Meece was going from west to east on University, his speed clocked 115 mph, 119 mph and 121 mph. The affidavit states that those speeds support the crash data of Meece accelerating to speeds up to 124 mph.
Meece has been charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and accident involving the death of Quma Carrillo.
NewsWest 9 will update this story if more information is provided.