DUI suspect identified in Nye County crash that killed 3
A motorist accused of driving while impaired in a Nye County crash that killed three people last month has been identified as Tyler Kennedy, 32.
The Nevada Highway Patrol said Kennedy was driving a Ford F-150 that slammed into a Toyota Highlander north of Beatty. Three of the Toyota’s occupants, Michael Durmeier, 39, Lauren Starcevich, 38, and Durmeier’s 12-year-old daughter, Georgia Durmeier, died at the scene.
A GoFundMe page identified Starcevich as Michael Durmeier’s fiancee. They were all from Victor, Idaho, a small city near the Wyoming border, the Highway Patrol has said, and they had all been traveling on a “fun-filled spring break adventure” at the time of the crash, according to the fundraiser.
Highway Patrol spokesman Travis Smaka said in a news release Wednesday that Kennedy faces three counts of DUI resulting in death, two counts of DUI resulting in substantial bodily harm and five counts of reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm. He also faces one count each of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to drive on the right half of the road, driving with a canceled drivers license and not wearing a seat belt.
The March 27 crash happened on U.S. Highway 95 near mile marker 99, within a few miles of the Scotty’s Junction turnoff for Death Valley National Park, the Highway Patrol has said.
Kennedy’s truck was headed north on U.S. 95 as Durmeier’s SUV was headed south with Starcevich, Georgia and two other children in the car.
For unknown reasons, the Ford partially veered into the southbound lane, striking the driver’s side of Durmeier’s SUV. The SUV overturned, and Starcevich and two children were thrown from the car, the Highway Patrol said.
The other two children were taken to University Medical Center, where one was in critical condition and the other was expected to survive, according to a news release last week.
Kennedy was taken to UMC in serious condition. He is from Tolleson, Arizona, a city in the Phoenix area, according to the Highway Patrol.
He was booked into the Nye County Detention Center, the Highway Patrol said Wednesday.
Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
