Fourteen-year-old Austin Aaron, a White boy from Jasper, Alabama, died after a collision with a Walker County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle on August 2, 2019. He had been riding an ATV near the intersection of Alabama State Highway 69 and Old Tuscaloosa Road when Deputy Blake Carter Hudson’s cruiser struck the ATV. Austin was taken to Children’s Hospital and died three days later from his injuries.

Investigators concluded Deputy Hudson had been driving recklessly and operating under the influence of alcohol, and that his cruiser’s emergency lights were not activated as he sped along the highway. Hudson was arrested and charged with manslaughter. In April 2023 he pleaded guilty to manslaughter; in that agreement DUI and improper lane usage charges were dismissed, and he received an eight-year suspended sentence and five years of probation.

What details about the crash or its investigation might help explain how this collision occurred?