Defendant sentenced for vehicular homicide and vehicular assault charges

On Friday, April 25, Chase Jones — the driver who killed four people and injured two others in a March 19, 2024 crash near Renton — was sentenced.

Earlier that month, Mr. Jones pleaded guilty as charged to all felony counts charged by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

“The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office would not have accepted anything less than a guilty plea as charged on all felony counts,” King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said.

The guilty pleas as charged were for:

• Vehicular Homicide for the reckless manner death of Andrea S. Hudson
• Vehicular Homicide for the reckless manner death of Boyd “Buster” Brown
• Vehicular Homicide for the reckless manner death of Matilda Wilcoxson
• Vehicular Homicide for the reckless manner death of Eloise Wilcoxson
• Vehicular Assault for the reckless manner aggravating injuries to Nolan Hudson
• Vehicular Assault for the reckless manner aggravating injuries to Charlotte Hudson

At the sentencing, King County Superior Court Judge Mark Larrañaga explained that he was obligated under the law to follow certain criteria and statewide sentencing guidelines.

“Nothing I do or say today is going to alleviate anyone’s pain, anger, frustration, or grief,” Judge Larrañaga said. “I sincerely wish it could. Sadly, the law falls short of that promise. But I hope, however, that the memories of Andrea, Buster, Matilda, and Eloise are not tethered to that tragic event or today’s hearing.”

Vehicular homicide (reckless manner) with Chase Jones’ offender score has a standard sentencing range set by state lawmakers of 210–280 months (17.5–23.3 years).

RCW section 9.92.080 says “whenever a person is convicted of two or more offenses which arise from a single act or omission, the sentences imposed therefor shall run concurrently,” except in rare circumstances. In other words, under state law a person can be convicted of multiple felony crimes and those offenses that happened on the same day are presumed under state law to be concurrent, but they do score against each other and that is why Chase Jones has an offender score of 10, not zero.

There is no guarantee of what would happen at a trial, even in cases that seem strong. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office would not have accepted anything less than a guilty plea as charged on all felony counts.

The surviving victims and family members of the deceased from the crash were informed of the plea and of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s recommendation before Mr. Jones’ guilty plea as charged. They were free to make any recommendations to the Court at the April 25 sentencing. In court on April 25, Judge Larrañaga ordered the following sentence:

“I am going to follow the agreed recommendation,” Larrañaga said, “and impose the following:

• On Count 1, 2, 3 and 4: 210 months to run concurrent with each other and concurrent with Counts 5 and 6.
• On Counts 5 and 6, 84 months to run concurrent with each other and concurrent with Counts 1 through 4.
• 18 months of community custody on all counts.”

Restitution was to be determined at a later court hearing.

Additionally, Judge Larrañaga ordered what prosecutors had requested: a seed-limiting device on vehicles Chase Jones may drive years from now, after his sentence, that limit a vehicle’s speed. (HB 1596, a bill about these speed-limiting devices that can prevent a car from going more than 10 mph over the speed limit, was sent to the governor’s desk on April 24. That bill is supported by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.)

The total length of confinement is 210 months (17.5 years).

To see the additional fees imposed by the Court and additional specifics of the sentence, go to the KC Script Portal. The full sentencing audio is also part of the official court file. A search for 24–1–03358–7 provides all publicly available documents for the case.

This text was posted the early evening of April 25, 2025. Updates are not anticiptaed. For each of the available court records in the case, go to the the KC Script Portal with case number 24–1–03358–7.