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GUILTY: Teen convicted in double-fatal crash

Posted at 1:13 PM, Dec 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-08 18:24:49-05

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A jury has reached a verdict for a teen charged with two counts of 2nd degree murder after a police chase and crash in March.

Alex Torrez was found guilty on all ten counts.  He broke into tears as the first of the verdicts were read Friday afternoon.

Tara Oskam - from Calvin College

Alex Torrez led police on a high speed chase that reached over 110 mph before the crash at Broadmoor and 52nd Street SE in the early morning hours.  The crash killed his cousin, David, who was in the car with him.  Tara Oskam, a Calvin College student, was killed in another vehicle in the collision.

"No matter what the jury decided, it’s not going to bring Tara back or David," said Tara's father Rob Oskam. "We're all just asking for him [Torrez] to be held accountable for his actions that night. He made many wrong decisions, he had multiples times to stop and pull over, and he didn't. Again, I said, both families lives are ruined here for all of us.”

Torrez's trial lasted less than a week.  Torrez had prior run-ins with the law for thefts and carrying concealed weapons like brass knuckles and knives.  Testimony during the trial showed that Torrez had alcohol and marijuana in his system at the time of the crash.