Speed Kills: 17-Year-Old Busted for Early Morning Vehicular Homicide on Federal

Fox31/CW 2's Greg Nieto...

July 27, 2015

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Early this morning, a crash on Federal Boulevard resulted in two injuries and one fatality.

The latter is a woman — and the Denver Police Department believes the incident that took her life constitutes a crime.

A seventeen-year-old male has been arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide, among other charges.

And the DPD maintains that excessive speed was a factor in the tragedy that ensued.

According to the department, the crash took place around 1:30 a.m. today, July 27, near the intersection of 23rd and Federal.

The area is captured in the following interactive graphic. If you have problems seeing the image, click "View on Google Maps."

Here's the first DPD tweet about what happened....

TRAFFIC: 2 Vehicle accident 23rd/Federal 1 vehicle rolled 3 victims total1 died on the way to hospital Federal shut down in both directions.
— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) July 27, 2015

....followed by this message containing additional details....

TRAFFIC: Update 23rd Federal Fatal Accident 1 female died. 1- male serious injuries expected to survive. 1 with a minor injury.
— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) July 27, 2015

...and a third post mentioning speed:

TRAFFIC: 23rd Federal fatal #DPD arrested a 17yr old male for investigation of Veh Homicide & Veh Assault Appears high speed played a factor
— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) July 27, 2015

Thus far, there's been no mention that a street race was underway when the accident occurred.

However, Federal Boulevard is a frequent setting for such races, and some of them have had heartbreaking results.

Last November, for instance, Regis University student Rachel Neiman was killed in a fatal street race further north on Federal, near the 54th Avenue intersection.

At this writing, today's accident has been cleared, as documented in this tweet from Fox31/CW 2's Greg Nieto:

23rd & Federal re-open after deadly ax.@ch2daybreak@gooddayco pic.twitter.com/9Lgm5H6nPi
— Gregory Nieto (@greg_nieto) July 27, 2015

Thus far, the names of those associated with the crash have yet to be shared — and there's no telling when or if we'll learn them.

Presumably, the identity of the person who died in the crash will be made public by the Denver coroner's office after next-of-kin notification.

But the seventeen-year-old driver's name will only be released if prosecutors decide to charge him as an adult.

In the meantime, our condolences to the friends, family and loved ones of the woman who died earlier this morning on Federal Boulevard.
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.

Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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