Fatal crash, Milwaukee man guilty at trial of 6 felonies
Juan Felix-Avendano
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man was found guilty at trial Tuesday in a crash that killed a man and seriously injured two others on New Year's Day.
Prosecutors said 22-year-old Juan Felix-Avendano was drunk and high on meth when he slammed into a vehicle carrying a Menomonee Falls family to church. The jury found him guilty of six felony counts, including homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle.
Craig Schimming, 52, was in the front passenger seat and was killed. His father, 76, was driving, and his mother, 78, was a passenger in the back seat. They were taken to the hospital in critical condition. A criminal complaint states the father was diagnosed with a brain bleed and the mother was on life-support, believed to be paralyzed from the neck down.
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Felix-Avendano admitted to drinking and smoking crystal meth before the crash near 98th and Good Hope, prosecutors said.
The speed limit on Good Hope where the crash happened is 40 mph. It is believed that Felix-Avendano rear-ended the victims' vehicle at a high rate of speed; his car had severe front-end damage, and its speedometer was stuck at 110 mph. An open bottle of beer was on the driver's floorboard and a beer can was in the back seat, the complaint said.
Felix-Avendano was also taken to a hospital for treatment of his injuries, where an officer noted he "appeared to be intoxicated." At the hospital, Felix-Avendano's blood was drawn for evidence, the complaint states; the state crime lab found his BAC was .147.
In an interview with police, the complaint said Felix-Avendano told investigators he had two drinks before getting into his car and had two more "on his way home." Once home, after he hung up with his wife in Mexico, he said he smoked crystal meth and drank "about four" beers before continuing to drink but could not remember how much. He said he did not recall leaving the house but recalled the accident and getting out of his wrecked car. Asked if he was responsible for the crash, he said "yes." He also admitted he never had a driver's license.