A Bennington man will be formally charged on Tuesday for a Saturday night crash that killed a 14 year old boy and injured his father at 144th and Harrison Saturday night.
Chief Deputy Douglas County Attorney Brenda Beadle tells NewsRadio 1110 KFAB the suspected drunk 36 year old Jeffrey Eggeling will be charged Tuesday with motor vehicle homicide, DUI causing serious bodily injury and leaving the scene of an injury crash.
Eggeling is being held without bond and will make his first court appearance Wednesday morning. Prosecutors say Eggeling was intoxicated when his vehicle slammed into a car driven by 59 year old Clifford "Brian" Canaday. He suffered facial injuries, but his 14 year old son Trevor was killed.
"This is just a terribly sad case where these kinds of things don't need to happen, especially in the age of Uber and Lyft. You don't need to get behind the wheel of a car and drive when you have been drinking," Beadle says.
Beadle says Eggeling has two prior DUI arrests. After the crash he ran from the scene and was arrested by Omaha Police.
After the crash the Canaday family had to make the decision to remove Trevor from life support. "We had to make the decision that no one has to make, especially when you are a mom. When you bring your baby into the world and you have to make the decision to let them go. So, we contacted a priest and they came out at 3 a.m. Trevor got his wings," mother Becky Canaday said.
She says what happened Saturday shouldn't happen to anyone ever again. "People have to be aware. They can't make these decisions to ruin people's lives."
Trevor's sister voiced her anger at the suspected drunk driver. "He needs to go away forever," Zoee said. "It's not fair that someone so careless and so selfish can take my little brother away from me."
Becky said that her son is her motivation in sharing the family's pain. "The strength... it comes from a love for Trevor and anger at how to try to get a message across, just to say 'Why? Can you look me in the eyes and give me a reason why you think this was the right decision to make?'" the mother said.
The family said Brian is doing well and they expect him to go home on Friday.