The Bennington, Nebraska man accused of killing Trevor Canaday, the 14-year-old cousin of Modern Family star Sarah Hyland, in a drunk driving car crash earlier this month was charged with five felonies Friday.
Jeffrey Eggeling was charged with motor vehicle homicide, DUI causing serious bodily injury and failing to stop and render aid during his preliminary hearing, the Omaha World-Herald reports. Prosecutors added manslaughter and second-degree assault to the list of charges.
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“The actions were so egregious that we felt we would add these additional charges. The law supports us to add these additional charges,” Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine told KETV.
According to prosecutors, Eggeling was driving more than 20 mph over the speed limit when he ran a red light at about 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 1. He was driving a 2011 Ford Escape 69 mph in a 45 mph zone and stuck a 1993 Nissan Maxima driven by Trevor’s father, Bryan Canaday. Trevor was killed and Canaday was injured in the crash.
Police said Eggeling fled the scene after the crash. They found Eggeling’s wallet, credit cards, a glass pipe and a small bottle of alcohol in his car. They found him two hours later, and he told police his car was stolen, Ohama Police Officer Ryan Miller said during Friday’s hearing.
Eggeling later admitted he was the driver, prosecutors said. He had a blood-alcohol level tested at .103 more than three hours after the crash.
Eggeling is still in jail on a $750,000 bond. He was previously convicted for driving while intoxicated and operating a boat while drunk.
Eggeling’s defense attorney said there was no evidence showing Eggeling was drunk during the crash since the police did not find him until a couple of hours after the crash. Kleine said prosecutors do have evidence to suggest he was drunk at the time.
After the crash, Trevor was taken to the hospital, where his family decided to remove him from life support.
“We had to make the decision that no one has to make, especially when you are a mom,” his mother, Becky Canaday, told WOWT. “When you bring your baby into the world and you have to make the decision to let them go. So, we contacted a priest and they came out at 3 a.m. Trevor got his wings.”
“He needs to go away forever. It’s not fair that someone so careless and so selfish can take my little brother away from me,” Trevor’s sister Zoee told WOWT.
Hyland took to Instagram hours after the crash to share a link to a GoFundMe page, which has since raised more than $45,000 in Trevor’s memory.
Photo credit: Getty Images
