PAW PAW (WKZO AM/FM) — A Benton Harbor man who investigators say is responsible for a horrific head-on collision in Hartford Township two months ago is not just being charged with driving drunk causing death, but with two counts of murder.
Court documents say that 23-year-old Jose Canedo was super-drunk, didn’t have a valid license and he had two children in the car at the time of the crash.
It was January 12th when he veered over the centerline on Red Arrow Highway and smashed head on into an SUV driven by 73 year old Mary Fender, who was dead at the scene.
6-year-old Skylinn Salines, who was in his vehicle, died at the hospital.
Two others including a 57-year-old passenger in Fender’s vehicle, and a 1-year-old in Canedo’s Jeep Cherokee were critically injured.
Canedo has been charged with two counts of second degree murder and multiple counts of driving drunk with a high blood alcohol content causing death and injury and driving on a suspended license causing death and injury.
He is charged with ten felony counts in all that could mean a sentence of up to life in prison if he is convicted on the most serious offenses. Bond was denied.
