Kelton Snulligan. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The suspect in a double-fatal, high-speed drunk driving crash was ordered Monday to stand trial in the case, although the defense continued to challenge the drunk driving allegations.
Kelton Snulligan, 23, faces 16 charges, including two charges of homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle for the July 21, 2023 crash in Allouez. Trevor Hermon — a passenger in Snulligan’s car — and Luis Rios-Alvarado — who was driving the vehicle Snulligan struck — were killed in the crash, while several others were injured.
After testimony at the preliminary hearing, Snulligan was bound over for trial. An arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 9.
Brown County Deputy Charles Tassoul testified at Monday’s preliminary hearing that Snulligan’s vehicle was travelling 103-110 mph. Test results showed Snulligan had a BAC of .097, higher than the legal limit of .08, he said.
The speed limit where the crash happened is 30mph.
Defense attorney Jason Luczak asked Tassoul if he was aware Snulligan was twice treated at the hospital with the drug etomidate for intubation, which could raise the blood alcohol level, before the blood draw was taken; but Tassoul was not.
On questioning by Luczak, Tassoul said the driver of the other vehicle was also potentially over the legal limit for alcohol with a BAC of about .106.
Judge Marc Hammer allowed the case to continue, including the alcohol-related counts, saying there’s enough evidence to pass the “probable cause” level of proof needed at this stage of the case.
According to the criminal complaint, one of the passengers in the vehicle Snulligan was driving told police they had been drinking. They were concerned one of the group had alcohol poisoning, so they were headed to Bellin Hospital.
The owner of the Mercedes-Benz which Snulligan was driving was riding in the front passenger seat.
As we approached the intersection, a small black car, like a Ford Focus, turned left from the oncoming lane across our path. They seemed to hesitate before turning. We were most likely going faster than the speed limit,” the passenger said. “I recall that we were going more likely faster than 55 MPH.
The same passenger “described the crash and that if they had been going slower, that the vehicle which turned in front of them probably would’ve made it through the intersection,” the complaint states.
This is the second time there was a preliminary hearing in the case.
Snulligan’s trial was scheduled to start Oct. 7. The state asked for the trial to be postponed, citing scheduling conflicts for a prosecutor, witnesses, and unavailability of the parents of one of the victims. On Oct. 4, Judge Donald Zuidmulder denied the request, telling the state the trial would happen as scheduled. In response, prosecutors dropped the charges and re-filed them hours later. The move effectively re-started the case from the beginning.
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