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A 29-year-old Kearns man has been charged with two counts of automobile homicide for allegedly crashing his speeding, nitrous oxide-powered car into a home, killing his sister and brother-in-law.
Christopher Robert Youngblood was also charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with one count of speeding, a class A misdemeanor.
On the afternoon of Dec. 3, Youngblood was taking his sister, Erica Youngblood, and her husband, Michael Dye, for a ride to show them the nitrous oxide system he had installed in his 2008 Toyota Scion TC the night before, court documents say.
A witness said he saw a car going between 65 mph to 100 mph in a 45 mph zone approaching the intersection of 5600 West and 5400 South. The car went airborne and lost control when it landed, sliding into a concrete wall and then a house, charging documents say.
Another man outside his home ran across the street to the crash and reported seeing the two people inside the car unconscious, later identified as Erica and Christopher Youngblood. A third person, Michael Dye, had been ejected from the car and was unconscious on the house's yard, court documents say. The witness said he then saw Christopher Youngblood get out the driver's seat and got to the back of the car to turn off a gas canister, charging documents say.
Police determined the canister contained the nitrous oxide and it was part of a system to boost the power of the car's engine, documents say.
Both Erica Youngblood and Michael Dye died at the scene. Youngblood was taken to a hospital.
Tests showed he had a blood alcohol content of 0.07, which is below Utah's legal limit for driving of 0.08.
Christopher Youngblood told police he had been drinking earlier in the day, prior to taking his sister and brother-in-law for a ride, court documents say.
Youngblood is scheduled to make his first appearance in court on Thursday morning.