A 30-year-old alleged repeat drunken driver was arrested Wednesday on murder charges stemming from a July crash in Irvine that killed three people and severely injured a fourth victim.
Jeremy Wayne Greenwood of Rialto was arrested at his home Wednesday morning on three counts of second-degree murder and one count of driving under the influence causing bodily injury, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Whitney Bokosky. He also faces sentencing enhancements for causing great bodily injury.
Greenwood could face up to 51 years to life in prison if convicted as charged.
Greenwood would normally face manslaughter charges, but he was convicted in February 2012 in Los Angeles of driving drunk and was advised at that time that he could face upgraded charges if he got into a deadly DUI collision, Bokosky said.
Greenwood allegedly had a blood-alcohol level of .10 -- over the legal limit of .08 -- when he crashed his 2015 Infiniti Q50 into a 2014 Hyundai Elantra about 3 a.m. July 1 at Harvard Avenue and Michelson Drive after running a red light, Bokosky said.
The crash killed 23-year-old Kasean Herrera, 24-year-old Jeremy Shankling and 19-year-old London Thibodeaux. Herrera and Shankling were pronounced dead at the scene and Thibodeaux died July 5.
A 20-year-old woman, whose name was not released, sustained a severe brain injury. She had to undergo multiple surgeries and was put into a medically induced coma, Bokosky said.
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London and the 20-year-old woman were friends who that night had met Shankling and Herrera, the prosecutor said. The women were UC Irvine students and the men were UCI graduates working as software engineers, she said.
Shankling was working as an IT application developer for the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Greenwood was pulled from his vehicle by witnesses after it erupted in flames, Bokosky said. Greenwood was taken to an area hospital in critical condition at the time, police said.
