Grand jury investigates police-involved deadly crash

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Prince George’s County (Map, News) - A Prince George's County grand jury will investigate a December crash in which an off-duty police officer in a county cruiser struck and killed a 21-year-old University of Maryland student driving to class.

"We're being very deliberate working through the reports and the interviews," said Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for the state's attorney's office, adding it could be more than a month before a grand jury decides whether there is enough evidence to charge Officer Mario Chavez with a crime.

Pending the outcome of the investigation, Chavez will continue to work for the department on administrative duty and is eligible to drive police vehicles, spokesman Henry Tippett said.

The Police Department conducts their own investigations into accidents but often works with the state's attorney if they involve a fatality or the possibility of wrongdoing, Korionoff said.

Family friends told The Examiner that Mary Gray, mother of deceased Brian Gray, was expecting results from police within six weeks of the accident but had still not received an answer. Brian Gray died from traumatic head injuries suffered in the Dec. 10 accident.

The accident reconstruction team "is moving with dispatch on our investigations, but it is not concluded," said Sharon Taylor, director of communications for the Police Department. Taylor said no details will be made available until the investigation is complete.

"It's apparent excessive speed was the cause of the accident," said Dana Paul, Gray's attorney.

Mary Gray was in a car behind Brian and witnessed the wreck at the intersection of Beaverdale Lane and Bel Air Drive in Bowie. She performed CPR on her son until the ambulance arrived.

"It's a 25-mile-per-hour zone," Gray said one day after the accident. "You just can't kill someone going 25 miles per hour."

Freshly drawn diagrams at the scene of the accident point to a new investigation, Paul said, adding it appears Gray's car was thrown about 90 feet and spun 180 degrees.

"Once the investigation phase of the police work is done, we will determine what aspects go before the jury," Korionoff said. "We're the ones that will determine if [Chavez] did something criminal."

lfabel@dcexaminer.com

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