Tragedy struck at the South By Southwest Festival (SXSW) after a drunken driver plowed through a crowd killing two people and injuring at least 23 outside of a concert venue this past Thursday in Austin, Texas.
The man accused of the drunk driven fatal incident is reportedly an aspiring rapper and father of six kids.
Rashad Charjuan Owens, 21, was just legal age at 21 years-old when he was attained, accused of driving while drunk through a crowd ending in a fatal crash at the SXSW Festival.
Reportedly Owens is not new to drunken driving as he had a conviction in Alaska for the same charge as well as a charge in Texas for criminal trespassing and several others.
A number of performances were cancelled at SXSW, at least two, while festivities did not halt all together.
Owens, who is accused in the incident, was somewhat defended by his brother and grandmother who say he had been raised in a Christian home and enrolled in college while trying to provide for his six children, ages 2 months to 5 years old.
“I can’t believe it,” says his brother Lamar Wilson who claims “everything was going good.”
Reportedly, Owens borrowed the car from a friend and fellow rapper Andrew Bramwell, says Owens.
Contradictory to his statement, Bramwell had reported the car stolen from Killeen, Texas as of Thursday morning.
To add even more to the story, Owens was reportedly expected to perform later that night.
The two people killed in the incident have been identified as 27 year-old Jamie Ranae West of Austin and Steven Craenmehr, a 35 year-old Dutch musician, who was on his bicycle. Twenty-three others were injured, three of which were listed in critical condition with multiple injuries including broken bones, broken teeth, deep cuts and more.
While Owens awaits further tests and investigation, a fund has been put in place for the people who were effected by this tragic incident.
Owens has been charged with capital murder and may face other charges pending investigation.
Rashad Owens remains in jail on a $3 million bond.
Oui. Je pense la même chose, mais tristement , le racism est le flueau des USA. Yesterday and today. Listen stephansong on YouTube and hope.
What a scumbag ,6 children and he is 21 where in the hell is good mother and father.
Texas: is this nt the state where that rich white young man was sent for "REHAB" for killing and injuring many a few months ago? If this man does not get "REHAB" as his sentence also someone needs to sue Texas for racial and class s discrimination! Both were horrific, preventable, accidents changing the lives of victims, their families and the criminals involved.