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‘I don’t remember driving.’ Accused drunk driver kills 2 in fiery wreck, Alaska cops say

A memorial to an Anchorage couple killed in a fiery drunken driving crash. The 23-year-old man accused in their deaths told police he doesn’t remember driving.
A memorial to an Anchorage couple killed in a fiery drunken driving crash. The 23-year-old man accused in their deaths told police he doesn’t remember driving. Screengrab from KTUU video

A 23-year-old man accused of killing an Anchorage couple in a fiery drunk driving crash told police he doesn’t remember driving, Alaska authorities reported.

Matthew Davis faces charges of drunken driving and manslaughter in the 2:20 a.m. crash Sunday, Aug. 21, Anchorage police said in a news release.

His Toyota Tacoma pickup truck slammed into the rear end of a vehicle stopped at an intersection, police said. That vehicle then hit a tree and burst into flames, killing two.

Davis also crashed into several other vehicles, police said.

He told police he had 12 to 15 alcoholic beverages at various bars before the string of crashes, KTUU reported.

“I don’t remember driving,” Davis told police, the Anchorage Daily News reported. He was found on the pavement beside his pickup truck, which also hit a shed, sign and pole.

Friends at a memorial to the couple slain in the crash told KTUU they shared a love of basketball.

“It’s so tragic, and I know the whole community is hurting because of this,” Emma Koldeway told the station. “Not everyone may have been friends with them, but we are all hurting and it is affecting all of us.”

The names of the 18-year-old woman and 20-year-old man have not been released by police, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The woman, who had just graduated from high school, hoped to become a neurosurgeon.

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This story was originally published August 24, 2022 at 11:25 AM with the headline "‘I don’t remember driving.’ Accused drunk driver kills 2 in fiery wreck, Alaska cops say."

DS
Don Sweeney
The Sacramento Bee
Don Sweeney has been a newspaper reporter and editor in California for more than 35 years. He is a service reporter based at The Sacramento Bee.
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