January 20, 2016

Devon Keser pleaded no contest on January 19 to charges of negligent homicide and negligent injury resulting from a single-vehicle crash on the H-1 Freeway in 2015 that killed an 18-year-old woman, Prosecuting Attorney Keith M. Kaneshiro announced today.

Keser, who was intoxicated at the time, could face 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on March 3.

“This was a tragedy that should never have happened,” Kaneshiro said. “By choosing to take the wheel while drunk, Keser not only put his and his friends’ lives in jeopardy, he endangered the people in every car he encountered on the freeway.”

On August 15, 2015, Keser lost control of a Jeep Wrangler in which four people were passengers. The Jeep struck a guardrail and then a light post before rolling over several times. Keser and three passengers were ejected.

Kortney Biton-Schubert was pronounced dead at the scene. Another passenger was taken to a hospital in critical condition with an open skull fracture.

Witnesses said the Jeep was traveling at a high rate of speed, weaving in and out of lanes as it overtook slower moving vehicles, before Keser lost control and the Jeep began to fishtail before spinning into the guardrail.

“This is a heartbreaking reminder of the consequences of drinking and driving,” Kaneshiro said. “So much pain suffered by so many.”

Deputy prosecutor Cheuk Fu Lui handled the case.

No-contest Plea in Freeway Crash that Killed 18-year-old Woman – Media Release (PDF)