Oxford man charged with causing deadly wreck

Published 12:01 pm Monday, September 28, 2015

MONROE, La. — An Oxford man is facing two counts of vehicular homicide and several other charges following a head-on collision late Saturday night in Monroe, Louisiana.

According to the Louisiana State Police, a 2010 Toyota truck driven by Jorge Lopez Benavides, 41, was traveling west in the eastbound lane of Interstate 20 around 11:15 p.m. when it collided head-on with a 2009 Ford Mustang driven by 20-year-old Thomas Williams of Delhi, Louisiana. Williams, along with a passenger in the Mustang, 19-year-old Jamerro May of Monroe, Louisiana, were pronounced dead at the scene by the Ouachita Parish Coroner’s Office. Another unidentified passenger was transported to an area hospital with serious injuries. None of the occupants in the Mustang were wearing seat belts.

According to the press release, alcohol use is believed to have been a factor in the wreck, which remains under investigation.

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According to booking records, Benavides is currently in the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Department jail, charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, no driver’s license, traveling the wrong way on a divided highway and one count of vehicular negligent injury.