NEW ORLEANS — The man accused of killing two people and injuring seven others in a drunk driving crash on Esplanade Avenue pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide.
Court records show Tashonty Toney pleaded guilty to the final two charges against him Monday, Oct. 28, the day he was set to go to trial.
Toney already pleaded guilty to the 14 other charges again him, but originally refused to plead guilty to the vehicular homicide charges, maintaining his blood alcohol content was below .20 at the time of the crash.
With that BAC, those charges are enhanced to crimes of violence and carry a maximum 30-year sentence each.
The test on Toney's blood, drawn 5 hours after the crash, registered a BAC of 0.14. Louisiana's legal limit for drivers is .08.
New Orleans Police traffic fatality investigators have scientifically extrapolated that Toney’s BAC was 0.215 at the time of the crash. Toney's attorney says there is no science that can prove that his client's blood alcohol concentration was above 0.20.
Police say Toney crashed his 2018 Camaro into the neutral ground at the end of a five-block path of destruction along Esplanade Avenue around 8:15 p.m., on March 2. That was shortly after the Endymion Mardi Gras parade passed nearby.
Sharee Walls, 27 of New Orleans and David Hynes, 31 of Seattle were both killed at the scene. Seven others were seriously injured when the car swerved into the bike lane, mowing down the cyclists.
Toney was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, six counts of first-degree vehicular negligent injuring, one count of vehicular negligent injuring, and seven counts of hit-and-run driving.
Toney faces up to 80 years in jail.
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