NORRISTOWN — A jury determined that a 20-year-old Marlborough Township man did not share responsibility for a fatal crash that prosecutors alleged occurred when he was racing with a Bucks County man whose car collided with a third vehicle, killing a Hatfield Township woman.
Evan Robert Buckman, of the 4000 block of East Campbell Road, was acquitted in Montgomery County Court on Wednesday of charges of homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault by vehicle and recklessly endangering another person in connection with the 8:41 p.m. May 17, 2023, crash on Bethlehem Pike at Bergey Road in Hatfield Township that killed 62-year-old Ida Lillo of Hatfield, a passenger in a vehicle operated by her husband, Louis Lillo III, who was seriously injured in the crash.
Buckman showed no outward emotion as the verdict was announced by the jury of seven men and five women after 2½ hours of deliberations and he did not comment on the outcome as he left the courtroom with his father.
“The important thing to think about and consider here and something that’s not lost on Evan is the fact that somebody lost their life here and somebody else was seriously injured. While it’s been our position from the beginning that he was not responsible for it, we’re extremely happy that the jury feels the same way. It’s just a tragic situation overall,” defense lawyer Matthew Quigg said afterward.
“He’s absolutely relieved,” Quigg added on Buckman’s behalf.
Judge Wendy G. Rothstein subsequently convicted Buckman of separate charges of illegal racing, speeding and reckless driving, all lesser summary offenses that carry fines or a license suspension. The jury did not consider those charges.
The Lillo vehicle was struck by a car operated by Aidan Thomas Jarrett, who prosecutors alleged was racing with Buckman.
Jarrett, 20, of the 300 block of Erie Avenue, Quakertown, previously pleaded guilty to charges of homicide by vehicle and aggravated assault by vehicle, as well as summary offenses of racing on highways and speeding, and is awaiting sentencing.
Deputy District Attorney Thomas W. McGoldrick said prosecutors were disappointed by the verdict.
“Of course we have great respect for our judicial system and I respect the jury’s decision completely but we are disappointed. I still believe that if Mr. Buckman wasn’t racing the way he was racing with Mr. Jarrett that that in turn would have caused Mr. Jarrett not to be driving the way he was driving and Ida Lillo would still be with us today,” said McGoldrick, who handled the case with co-prosecutor Blair Rohlfing. “I stand by our evidence. I still believe these two guys were racing and if one of them had called it off, Ida Lillo would still be alive.”
With the charges, investigators alleged Jarrett was traveling at speeds between 95- and 110-mph while racing with Buckman southbound on Bethlehem Pike, also known as Route 309, when the front bumper of Jarrett’s vehicle struck the passenger side door of the Lillo vehicle.
Following analysis of video surveillance, crash investigators calculated that a Nissan 350Z operated by Buckman was travelling about 95 mph at one point during the incident, according to court documents.
During the two-day trial, McGoldrick argued Buckman shared responsibility with Jarrett for the fatal crash because he was racing with Jarrett at the time.
“It was a thrill ride. It was a joy ride, two young guys showing off their fast cars. They wanted to show off what their cars could do and what they could do with their cars,” McGoldrick argued during his closing statement to the jury on Wednesday. “They both were flying. Aidan Jarrett was in the lead and (Buckman) was right on his tail.
“These two guys were driving together at incredibly high speeds. In effect, they were racing. It was excessive speeding and racing by these two guys together that directly caused the death of Ida Lillo. Actions have consequences. When two young men decide to go joyriding in their fast cars, bad things are bound to happen,” McGoldrick argued.
While Buckman’s vehicle did not strike the Lillo vehicle, he, due to his alleged racing and grossly negligent violations of motor vehicle laws, also was responsible for the fatality under accomplice liability theories, prosecutors contended.
Buckman did not testify during the trial, but jurors watched a videotaped statement he gave to police several days after the incident during which he told investigators he was “just following my friend.”
Quigg argued prosecutors had no evidence that Buckman was racing with Jarrett, no evidence that Buckman was attempting to pass Jarrett and no evidence of shared criminal intent. Quigg argued Buckman’s actions that night were not a direct cause of the fatal crash.
“They want you to jump and speculate and want you to guess…that in some way Evan caused Aidan Jarrett to speed, race and drive recklessly. They want you to speculate and guess,” Quigg argued during his closing statement to the jury, adding there was reasonable doubt in the case. “There is no evidence he was racing on highways.”
Quigg suggested that even if jurors believed that Buckman was speeding and driving recklessly, his conduct wasn’t the direct cause of the fatal crash.
“Just because two people know each other doesn’t mean they are accomplices,” said Quigg, arguing Buckman didn’t encourage, promote or facilitate Jarrett’s conduct on the roadway and that Buckman was simply following Jarrett.
The investigation began when Hatfield police responded to reports of a two-vehicle crash at Bethlehem Pike and Bergey Road between a red 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer, operated by Jarrett, and a silver 2015 Nissan Frontier, operated by Louis Lillo III, with Ida Lillo as a passenger, according to the criminal complaint filed by Hatfield Township Police Officer William J. Summerfield.
“As a result of this impact, the Mitsubishi sustained severe front-end damage and had a fire ignite in the engine compartment. The Nissan sustained severe damage to the passenger side front door area, to include heavy intrusion into the passenger compartment, and proceeded to lift up off of the ground and rotate before rolling through the intersection,” Summerfield wrote in the criminal complaint, explaining the Lillo vehicle came to rest on the southwest corner of the intersection on the driver’s side and both occupants were trapped inside.
As a result of the impact, Ida Lillo was thrown from the passenger seat into the driver’s seat of the Nissan and suffered “catastrophic injuries” and she was transported to Grand View Hospital’s trauma center where she died of her injuries.
Louis Lillo, the driver of the Nissan, suffered serious injuries, including fractures and lacerations, police said.
A third vehicle, a yellow Nissan 350Z operated by Buckman also was at the scene, but was not damaged, police said.
At the scene, Jarrett allegedly told arriving officers that he “was driving over the speed limit.” When asked to estimate his speed, Jarrett responded, “uhhh pretty fast,” and “Uhhh a hundred,” according to the criminal complaint.
Police recovered video surveillance footage from two area businesses that recorded the crash.
Relying on witness interviews and the surveillance video, investigators determined the vehicles operated by Jarrett and Buckman were racing at high speeds prior to the fatal crash. One witness traveling 55 mph told police the red Mitsubishi “passed me like I was sitting still” and another witness indicated when the Mitsubishi passed her it “shook” her Jeep Cherokee, according to testimony and court documents.
“They (the witnesses) said they were racing. You know it when you see it,” McGoldrick argued.
Video surveillance footage showed that at about 8:39 p.m. the vehicle occupied by the Lillos was traveling northbound when it began to turn left from Bethlehem Pike onto Bergey Road. Jarrett’s Mitsubishi, traveling southbound, crashed into the Nissan, striking its passenger side door with such force that it caused the vehicle to flip onto its side and travel through the intersection.
Two seconds after the crash, Buckman’s Nissan vehicle passed the crash and started to brake and then pulled over into a nearby parking lot.
A post-crash inspection of Jarrett’s Mitsubishi found no mechanical issues that could have contributed to the crash. Data from the Mitsubishi’s airbag device showed that at 4.9 seconds before the crash, the Mitsubishi was travelling at 110.6 mph in the 55-mph zone. Even after Jarrett applied his brakes, his vehicle was traveling 69 mph at the moment of impact with the Lillo vehicle, according to testimony.
Crash investigators calculated that the yellow Nissan operated by Buckman was travelling about 95 mph at one point during the racing incident, according to testimony and court documents.
“The reconstruction of the crash found the speed of the red Mitsubishi caused this crash,” Summerfield alleged, adding the speed at which Jarrett was traveling “was not reasonable and prudent for the roadway” and was being operated with “a complete reckless and wanton disregard for the safety of other persons or property.”
“Based on my investigation, I believe both Mr. Jarrett and Mr. Buckman were traveling together to demonstrate the speed of their vehicles and to race their vehicles on a highway,” Summerfield alleged.
