Renton man charged with vehicular homicide in 2023 crash that killed passenger

A 22-year-old man faces charges of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault, more than two years after prosecutors said he was high on methamphetamine and fentanyl when he crashed into a school bus in Renton, killing a passenger.

Robert Anthony Trevino was booked Wednesday into the King County Jail on a $100,000 warrant after King County prosecutors charged him April 30 with one count of felony vehicular homicide and one count of vehicular assault.

The crash occurred Dec. 19, 2023, shortly after 12 p.m. on Northeast 3rd Street near the 1700 block. Trevino was driving a 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier westbound when prosecutors alleged he sped past a Tesla at more than 70 mph, then merged back into the lane, according to the charging documents.

When Trevino attempted to apply the brakes, the vehicle slid out of control, causing it to enter the oncoming eastbound lanes and collide with a school bus that was carrying three students and the driver. Nobody inside the bus sustained any significant injuries.

The front-seat passenger in Trevino’s vehicle, Ashley O’Neal, suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. A back-seat passenger sustained a broken vertebra, a fractured rib, and a broken lower left leg.

Trevino’s license was suspended at the time of the collision, prosecutors allege.

Officers find drug paraphernalia inside car following Renton crash

An officer who responded to the crash wrote that Trevino did not appear to be “in their right mind.” Inside the Cavalier, officers found drug paraphernalia, including aluminum foil, lighters, mini-torches, baggies, and hypodermic needles.

Medics performed a blood draw at the scene before Trevino was transported to Valley Medical Center. Toxicology results, returned Feb. 4, showed meth and fentanyl in his system.

Renton police spokesperson Meeghan Black said the roughly two-year delay in receiving the results stemmed from “some sort of miscommunication and delay” at the Washington State Patrol Toxicology Laboratory, which she described as “exceptionally busy.”

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said prosecutors received the completed case April 28 and “reviewed it immediately for a charging decision,” filing charges two days later.

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