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Driver to face felony homicide in crash that killed Henrico teen

Posted at 7:19 PM, Jul 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-12 07:22:04-04

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- A Henrico County grand jury indicted a woman in the death of a Highland Springs High school student killed in an April car crash. Keia Mona Hewlett was indicted in connection with the death of 14-year-old Dajanae White.

Hewlett was driving the car that drove off the Darbytown Road around 4 a.m., police said. Dajanae was one of five teenagers in the back seat of the car when it crashed.

Dajanae, who was not wearing a seat-belt, was the only person in the car who died.

Dajanae White

Hewlett is facing several charges including felony homicide, aggravated manslaughter, and five counts of felony child abuse or neglect and driving while intoxicated.

The charges came less than two weeks after Dajanae’s mother asked for justice in her daughter’s death.

“Sometimes these things take a while because they have to be investigated," CBS 6 legal expert Todd Stone said when asked to explain why it took months to indict Hewlett. "You have to look and see if there are any other substances in her system. So, they send that to the lab and have that tested."

Dajanae

Stone also weighed in on the significance of the felony homicide charge.

“Felony homicide is a statue that’s not used that often. And it’s to cover those cases where there’s an accidental killing and it happens during the commission of another Felony offense," said Stone. “So, a Felony homicide in this circumstance is prosecuted just like a second degree murder charge. So, you can get up to 40 years in prison."

Hewlett is expected to turn herself into police Wednesday. Her attorney Craig Cooley declined to comment on the pending case.

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