14-year-old boy charged with murder after ‘egg throwing’ incident causes fatal car crash

The boy allegedly drove an SUV through a red light and rammed into another vehicle, killing the driver

(Harris County Sheriff)

A Texas teenager has been charged with murder in relation to a fatal crash from a car chase that started because of eggs thrown at other cars.

The teenager, a 14-year-old boy, had been in an SUV with other teenagers and was throwing the eggs at other cars before another driver began chasing them, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

The 14-year-old driver then smashed into a pickup truck after running a red light. Silvia Zavala, 45, was killed in that crash.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said that Ms Zavala was “totally innocent”, and that she ha been shopping before the crash that killed her.

The teenager has now been taken to a juvenile detention centre.

Mr Gonzalez has indicated that they plan on interviewing the driver of the vehicle that chased the teenagers after the egg incident.

It is not clear what penalties the 14-year-old may face, but the state of Texas is known as one of the most severe in the US when it comes to murder punishments.

The state allows minors as young as 14 to be tried as adults in certain circumstances, especially for the most severe of crimes committed in the state.

But, 14-year-olds generally only have their cases transferred from juvenile court jurisdiction in cases of first-degree murder and other major offences.

It is not clear if the child in this case will be charged with that level of a crime, or if a lesser murder charge might be used in the case.