Charges: Man admits over text he was driver in fatal Scott Co. crash
SCOTT COUNTY, Minn. (KMSP) - A 20-year-old Burnsville man believed to the driver in the rollover crash that killed a Shakopee High School student is now charged and awaiting extradition to Minnesota.
According to the Scott County criminal complaint, investigators believe Khalil Watson was driving more than 90 miles per hour just before the vehicle crashed on the gravel road in Jackson Township last month. Ja’Mason Moffet, a junior at Shakopee High School, died in the rollover crash and four others were injured.
Watson is charged with criminal vehicular homicide and two counts of criminal vehicular operation.
According to the criminal complaint, a teenage girl originally told police she was the driver when the crash happened. A few days later, she told them she lied. She says Watson, her boyfriend, told her to cover for him after he saw Moffet died in the crash.
Another person told police Watson texted her, saying he was the driver during the crash. He texted “I killed someone on accident. With my wrap sheet there gonna charge me with manslaughter. I’m gone forever accident or not.” He told her he was going to stay at his uncle’s house in Las Vegas.
When investigators were looking at the vehicle after the crash, they found the driver’s seat was in position for a taller person, while the front passenger seat was set for a shorter person. Watson is 5’ 11” tall and the girl who originally told officers she was the driver is only 5’ 3” tall. Also, about two hours before the crash, surveillance cameras near the Mystic Lake Casino showed the girl was sitting in the front passenger seat.
At the scene, deputies found several backpacks that had been ejected during the crash. One of the backpacks contained about 17 grams of marijuana and Xanax pills in a plastic baggy. A Snapchat video sent about 90 minutes before the crash showed Watson and the others taking Xanax and drinking beer.
One deputy noted smelling alcohol on Watson’s breath after the crash. Watson refused to take a breath test.
Watson is currently in custody at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas.