MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – A Tennessee man who told police he had been smoking marijuana because he was upset NBA star Kobe Bryant had died has been charged with killing two Mississippi residents in a car crash, prosecutors said.
Charles Robert Jones, 39, has been indicted on charges including vehicular homicide involving intoxication, DUI and reckless driving, the Shelby County district attorney’s office said.
Investigators said Jones was speeding when he ignored a red light at a Memphis intersection, crossed the center line and slammed head-on into another car on Jan. 26, 2020.
Sonya Lea Roser, 54, of Ripley, Mississippi, and her passenger, Christopher Allen Hunt, 50, of Horn Lake, Mississippi, were killed.
Authorities say Jones told investigators that he had been smoking “weed” earlier because he was upset over the death of Bryant. The retired NBA player was killed in a helicopter crash that day in California.
Online records didn’t show if Jones had a lawyer late Thursday.