Trial begins for man charged with second-degree murder in 405 Freeway crash that killed 10-year-old girl
Trial began Tuesday for a driver charged with second-degree murder after a 2016 crash on the 405 Freeway that left a 10-year-old girl dead and her father and older sister seriously injured.
Prosecutors allege that Adam Kanas, 39, was driving erratically while under the influence of multiple prescription drugs when he crashed his Chevy Tahoe into the back of a Tesla in the carpool lane of the northbound 405 near Seal Beach Boulevard around 9:20 a.m. on Aug. 15, 2016.
The impact of the collision sent the Tesla into the rear of a Honda Civic. Kendra Geddis, who was asleep in the back seat of the Tesla, was killed. Her older sister, Kayla, and her father, Don, both were injured.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Dan Feldman told jurors that several other motorists had called 911 prior to the fatal crash to report that Kanas was driving “all over the road,” swerving in multiple lanes, slowing down to 20 mph before speeding up to 70 mph and seemingly braking at random.
A toxicology test would later find muscle relaxers and several other prescription drugs in Kanas’ system, the prosecutor said. At the time of the crash, Kanas, a San Clemente resident, was on probation following a 2015 DUI conviction in Los Angeles County. As is routine in DUI cases, Kanas had been warned by a judge that if he again drove while intoxicated and caused a crash in which someone was killed, he could be charged with murder.
Feldman said that shortly after the crash, Kanas told a CHP officer “I guess two cups of coffee weren’t enough,” then, when informed that the girl had died, replied “accidents happen.” During his opening statements, Feldman also showed a short snippet from a videotaped interview at a CHP office, where Kanas appeared to be falling asleep.
“She is no longer with us because of the choices he made,” Feldman said as he showed jurors a picture of the girl.
Kanas’ attorney, Robert Gottlieb, acknowledged that Kanas had been driving erratically, and that he had briefly taken his eyes off the road prior to the crash. But he denied that Kanas was impaired.
Kanas had just moved into the carpool lane, was looking down to pick up a bottle of Kombucha that had fallen to the floor of his car, and did not notice that the Tesla had been forced to make an abrupt stop like the vehicles in front of it, Gottlieb told jurors.
“This tragedy is an automobile accident with horrific consequences, but it does not belong in this criminal court,” the defense attorney said.
Along with second-degree murder , Kanas is also facing a pair of DUI and causing injury charges, along with sentencing enhancements for great bodily injury.