DUNKIRK, Md. — A Washington, D.C. police officer was sentenced to 18 months in jail for two counts of felony vehicular manslaughter in a 2021 crash that killed two people.
In January, Austin Kirk Smith entered a guilty plea to two counts of negligent manslaughter in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court in Annapolis.
Smith, an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department, was off-duty and driving a Dodge Charger on his way home from work on May 27, 2021 at the time of the incident.
He struck the passenger side of an SUV that was making a left-hand turn from Route 4 onto Lower Pindell Road.
The driver, 21-year-old Nicholas Raymond Harris, and front seat-passenger, Leah Mae Foster, were both killed in the crash.
Investigation revealed Smith was driving 105 miles per hour leading up to the collision. The speed limit at the intersection is 55mph.
