A Renton man convicted of his third vehicular homicide has received a 10-year sentence.

Antonio Lopez, whose last known address was in Renton, was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide, one count of vehicular assault and a felony count of hit and run. Lopez received 89 months for one vehicular homicide, 89 months for a second vehicular homicide, 57 months for vehicular assault, and 120 months for felony hit and run causing the death of another, to be served concurrently.

This ruling stems from Lopez’s involvement as the driver in a Feb. 26, 2023, incident while traveling over 70 mph when he crashed into a vehicle, killing both occupants. Court documents state that a second man was also injured.

Details of the crime

Court documents state that at about 3 a.m. Feb. 26 on southbound I-5 near the West Seattle Freeway, it was snowing and roads were slushy and slick when the driver of a Mercedes was struck by a Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Skyler Thorton and occupied by his passenger Terrell Aaron.

Following the collision, the driver of the Mercedes got out of the car to pick up a piece of his vehicle and examine the damage. The Mercedes driver recalls that both vehicles turned on their hazard lights. Following the Mercedes driver’s exit from his vehicle, he went to the front of his vehicle while Thorton and Aaron sat in their vehicle again.

Documents state that subsequently, Lopez approached the scene of the accident in a Jeep Wrangler with his girlfriend in the passenger seat, who, according to documents, was getting a ride from a party after she got intoxicated. According to preliminary reconstruction, the Jeep was estimated to have been traveling over 70 mph when it collided with the rear of the Chevrolet Cavalier where Thorton and Aaron were seated.

According to documents, the collision caused the Chevy to impact the Mercedes and throw the Mercedes driver on the road. The documents state that the Mercedes driver then crawled to the side of the road to avoid oncoming traffic.

Thorton and Aaron suffered catastrophic injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene, the document stated. The Mercedes driver suffered a bleeding head injury, fractured ribs and a lacerated liver, though he would survive after being admitted to the hospital.

The documents state that a witness stopped and then had Lopez and his passenger enter her car as she called the police, but when the police arrived, they found that the pair had slipped away on foot, leaving the Jeep behind.

“When the police arrived, they had both fled, their footprints in the snow fleeing south of the collision until they disappeared,” documents stated. “The girlfriend did speak to the police later that morning from her father’s house. She had injuries consistent with being the passenger.”

Documents state that prior to the collision, Lopez had passed a semi-truck, which alerted the semi-truck driver due to the Jeep’s high speed. The driver was also alerted by the speed of the Jeep, given the snowy conditions and the traffic flow.

According to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Lopez has a criminal and traffic history that includes “inattentive driving” and multiple no insurance/no driver’s license infractions, speeding 23 miles-per-hour over the limit with no license. Additionally, in 2017, he reportedly drove on the shoulder of a road, killed someone and then fled the scene.

The document states that he and the state agreed to a sentence recommendation, which resulted in a concurrent sentence of 120 months. Lopez will also have 18 months of probation following his release.