Kathy McGraw was standing on a neutral ground in New Orleans East one afternoon in early June when a nearby two-car crash hurled a piece of one vehicle into her, leaving her critically injured.
She died a month later, and last week police jailed one of the drivers involved in the crash on a count of negligent homicide because they allege he was driving at least 35 mph over the posted speed limit, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court records show.
According to the records, Harrell Washington, 30, was driving his four children — all younger than 12 — and wife west on Chef Menteur Highway in a 2015 Nissan Rogue about 1 p.m. June 6 when the driver of a 2008 Kia Optima tried to cross the road at Papania Drive.
Washington collided with the Optima, which “was split in half,” police said. Police said part of the Optima then struck McGraw, 51.
McGraw was among seven people that first responders took to hospitals after the wreck. Police arrested Washington on several counts of negligent injuring.
But one of those counts was upgraded to negligent homicide after McGraw died July 3 and a detective secured information from the Nissan's data recorder that indicated Washington was driving in excess of 80 mph — well over the 45 mph speed limit in that part of Chef Menteur, which is flanked by homes and businesses, police wrote in court records.
Police rebooked Washington in McGraw’s death on Aug. 14. His bail was set at $30,000, and he remained in the New Orleans lockup on Wednesday.
McGraw lived about two blocks from the scene of the crash. Washington lived about four miles away in New Orleans East.
Louisiana law defines negligent homicide as the killing of a person resulting from a disregard for the interest of others. Washington could face up to five years in prison if he is convicted of that crime.
