JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man faces five charges in a deadly crash that took the lives of two people in August of last year.
On August 1, 2020, the Florida Highway Patrol responded to a major crash on I-95 at about 2:15 a.m., according to an arrest warrant filed against 32-year-old Stephen Douglas Boydston.
Investigators found a Chevrolet Silverado driven by Boydston was traveling north in the southbound lanes when it hit a Chevrolet Impala head-on. It appears Boydston was may have been speeding, the warrant says.
Both the driver and the passenger in the Impala were pronounced dead at the scene, the warrant says. Boydston was seriously injured and had to be extracted from the truck before first responders could take him to the hospital, according to the warrant.
Meanwhile, troopers found an empty 12-pack of alcoholic seltzer inside the truck Boydston was driving, the warrant says. They also found two cans but could not find the other two cans.
When troopers went to the hospital to check on Boydston and also find out his sobriety, hospital staff would not comment and told investigators Boydston was in surgery, the warrant says.
Investigators at the scene of the crash instead swabbed blood from Boydston's truck and sent it to the lab to be analyzed, according to the warrant.
While the results of the lab test were redacted in the warrant obtained by First Coast News, there was enough evidence for investigators to conclude Boydston was under the influence at the time of the crash, the warrant says.
Boydston is charged with two counts of manslaughter (one for each victim), two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of driving under the influence.
