UPDATED: 3:05 p.m.
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A Montgomery County man charged with homicide by vehicle, accused of racing another driver who caused a deadly crash on Route 309 last year has been found not guilty.
It took the jury about two hours to find Evan Buckman, 20, from Pennsburg not guilty of homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault by vehicle, and reckless endangerment.
Prosecutors said Buckman was racing his friend, 20-year-old Aiden Jarrett, on May 17, 2023, when Jarrett slammed into a truck that was trying to make a left turn from Route 309 onto Bergey Road. Ida Lillo, 62, was killed and her husband, Louis Lillo III, was seriously injured. The defense argued Buckman was just following Jarrett and they weren’t racing.
“He needed to have shared criminal intent, which he just didn't have,” said Buckamn’s attorney, Matt Quigg. “At the end of the day, as I said in my opening, as I said in my closing, Aiden Jarrett led, Evan was following, but there was never any racing or anything like that.”
Video of the crash shows Buckman was not far behind Jarrett when Jarrett slammed into the pick-up truck. Jarrett pleaded guilty earlier this year to homicide by vehicle and aggravated assault by vehicle, admitting he was going more than 110 mph just seconds before the crash.
Quigg says that while it’s a tragic situation, his client is relieved. “I think the key to the not guilty verdict was the fact that the jury saw he wasn't racing,” he said.
“They saw that this is a situation where you have two kids that are driving like knuckleheads, but by the same token, they were not in a position where they're racing each other.”
Buckman was found guilty of separate traffic violations by a Montgomery County judge including summary illegal racing and reckless driving, which carry fines and a suspended license.