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TOOELE — A woman who was behind the wheel when her car rolled a year ago, ejecting her four passengers and resulting in fatal injuries to one of them, is now facing criminal charges.
Kiana Kaylyn Thurston-Kaneshiro, 19, of Bountiful, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with negligently operating a vehicle resulting in death, a second-degree felony; and three counts of negligently operating a vehicle resulting in serious injury, a third-degree felony.
On April 12, 2023, a vehicle with two men and three women — all between the ages of 18 and 20 and said to be close friends — was traveling east on I-80 near Delle when the vehicle hit the rumble strip in the left lane, swerved to the right and overcorrected back to the left, according to Utah Highway Patrol. The vehicle rolled down the embankment in the median. Four people, who had not been wearing seat belts, were ejected.
Khaiyla Comer, 19, was critically injured and died from her injuries six days later.
The Utah Highway Patrol's Major Crash Investigation Team later determined Thurston-Kaneshiro was traveling over 100 mph when she lost control of her car, according to charging documents.
"Kiana Thurston failed to maintain a single lane of travel at a high rate of speed and crossed the yellow line to the left. ... It appears that she drifted or gradually moved out of the lane and ran over the rumble strips. It was at this time there was an abrupt swerve to the right. Then there was an overcorrection back to the left," the charges state.
Thurston-Kaneshiro also admitted to consuming marijuana during her trip and her blood tested positive for the presence of THC, according to investigators.
