Two charged in 2023 fatal crash in Montgomery County. What we know.

Two 19-year-old men who authorities allege were drag racing at speeds approaching 100 mph before a crash that killed a Hatfield woman and seriously injured her husband last year have been charged. 

The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday announced it has charged Aidan Jarrett, of Quakertown, and Evan Buckman, of Pennsburg, with homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault by vehicle and related offenses in connection with the May 17, 2023 accident.

Authorities allege that Jarrett and Buckman were traveling at high speeds on Bethlehem Pike when one of them struck a car at a four-way intersection with Bergey Road in Montgomery Township.  There are no traffic signals at the intersection, and only one stop sign for eastbound traffic on Bergey Road.

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When police arrived at the crash scene, they found a red 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer with its engine on fire and its driver, Jarrett, outside the vehicle and a silver 2015 Nissan Frontier was on its side with two people trapped inside, according to a DA press release.

Firefighters extricated the driver, Louis Lillo III and passenger Ida Lillo, 62, who were transported to Grand View Hospital, where Ida Lillo was pronounced dead as a result of catastrophic injuries, according to a probable cause affidavit. 

Louis Lillo suffered serious injuries, police said. 

A third vehicle, a yellow Nissan 350Z driven by Evan Buckman was also on scene, but not damaged in the crash.

Jarrett allegedly indicated to police officers at the scene that he was driving over the posted 55-mph speed limit, the affidavit said. 

When officers asked Jarrett to estimate how fast he was driving, he responded, “pretty fast … a hundred,” the affidavit said.  

Surveillance video showed Lillo’s Nissan was northbound when it began to turn left from Bethlehem Pike onto Bergey Road when the Mitsubishi traveling southbound on Bethlehem Pike struck the passenger side door with such force it flipped the Nissan onto its side, according to authorities.

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The Mitsubishi then drove through the intersection immediately followed by the yellow Nissan that Buckman was driving, which pulled into a nearby parking lot. 

Video surveillance from two nearby businesses showed both Jarrett’s and Buckman’s vehicles traveling at high rates of speed and Jarrett’s car was traveling “significantly faster than vehicles around it.”

Witnesses also told police that Jarrett and Buckman were traveling at a high rate of speed, tailgating and passing vehicles before the fatal crash, the release said.

One witness claimed that the red Mitsubishi passed at such a high rate of speed it made her car shake.

“(The red Misubishi) passed me like I was sitting still. I was doing 55, so I don’t know how fast he was going,’ the witness told police, the affidavit said. 

A post-crash inspection of the Mitsubishi found no mechanical issues that could have contributed to the crash.   

Airbag system data show Jarrett was traveling at more than 110 mph, twice the marked 55-mph speed limit seconds before striking Lillo’s car, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Crash investigators calculated Buckman’s Nissan was traveling at a speed of 95 mph. 

Both men are free on $50,000 unsecured bail. An additional bail condition bars them from driving.