Topeka motorist in fatal crash at S.W. 6th and Gage will face murder charge in May trial
Witnesses: Defendant’s car fled KHP trooper before wreck
A motorist charged with killing a passenger in another vehicle during a law enforcement pursuit will go on trial in May, a Shawnee County District Court judge ruled Wednesday.
The attorney defending Marcos Adan Cruz Jr., 21, of Topeka, expressed interest in taking part in mediation to resolve the case with the district attorney’s office.
On Aug. 19, Cruz was bound over for trial on charges of felony first-degree murder in the commission of a felony (fleeing police), fleeing police, aggravated battery and aggravated endangering a child younger than 18, all felonies.
Cruz also will be tried on misdemeanor counts of reckless driving, required obedience to lawful police order, driving on a suspended license, driving while a habitual violator, failure to wear a seat belt and traffic infractions of speeding, unsafe turning, improper driving on a laned road, and two other infractions.
Wednesday was the first time Napoleon Crews, the new attorney representing Cruz, had appeared in court during the case.
On Jan. 24, District Judge David Debenham granted a defense motion seeking to remove Joseph Huerter as Cruz’s attorney. The judge found there was a lack of trust by Cruz in the attorney-defendant relationship.
Cruz’s jury trial will begin May 1. A pre-trial hearing will be conducted April 14.
During the preliminary hearing, a witness testified that a speeding Chevrolet Impala ran a red light and crashed into a Toyota Camry at S.W. 6th and Gage. From the point of impact, the Camry was forced into the fence of the Topeka Zoo’s black bear enclosure, a witness testified.
A passenger in the Toyota, Edward Greene, 69, of Tecumseh, was declared dead at the crash site. Its driver, Jerry Griggs, 73, of Topeka, was injured.
A child in Cruz’s car, 8-month-old Martay Cruz, was examined at a hospital and released. The baby is Cruz’s son.
Marcos Cruz was treated at a hospital and released. A second passenger in the Impala — Eric Keith Johnson, 21, of Topeka — sustained unspecified injuries.
A trooper was conducting seat belt enforcement duty at the westbound exit from Interstate 70 at S.W. Gage when he saw Cruz wasn’t wearing a seat belt and signaled for Cruz to stop.
Instead, the trooper said, Cruz drove through a stop sign and accelerated as he drove south on Gage, traveling 70 mph in a 40-mph zone.
After the wreck, two troopers were unable to open two doors on the smoking Impala to rescue the child, so they broke a window, a trooper testified.
A child carrier seat in the back seat was tilted to one side, and the child was on the seat, a trooper said, crying “hysterically” and bleeding from a cut.
The carrier seat was meant for a toddler, not a baby.
Shawnee County Coroner Charles Glenn said Greene died of “blunt injuries” from the crash. Greene’s aorta, the heart’s major artery, was cut in half — an injury that wasn’t survivable, Glenn said.
Greene also suffered skull fractures, pelvic fractures, lacerations to the liver, leg and arm fractures, and seven rib fractures all on his right side, Glenn said.
Cruz remains in Shawnee County Jail in lieu of bond.