Moore Officers Speak On Deadly Hit-And Run Crash After Testifying In Trial Against Max Townsend

Two Moore officers involved in the investigation of a deadly crash that killed three students, spoke out after giving an emotional testimony in the Max Townsend trial.

Thursday, July 1st 2021, 6:35 pm



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Max Townsend was found guilty on 10 counts including second-degree murder for the deaths of Rachel Freeman, Yuridia Martinez and Kolby Crum.

A jury found him guilty after five and a half hours of deliberations.

Read: Max Townsend Found Guilty Of All 10 Counts In Connection With Deadly Moore Crash

“The only goal, the only insight into this is we have to get the guilty verdict, we have to.” said MSgt. James White, with the Moore Police Department.

And they did. White and Sgt. David Grant are both on the accident reconstruction team that was in charge of the investigation.

“As soon as hearing that first guilty and the jury recommending life, you could feel the weight being lifted.” said White.

But, for all involved it was a long road to get to that reading.

February 3, 2020 will be a day that is forever ingrained in the memories of both officers.

Read: Officer, A Part Of Accident Reconstruction Team, Gives Emotional Testimony In Max Townsend Trial

"When you think about a 77 mph Ford F-250 with a brush guard made to ram through things, just the sheer destruction that can do." said Grant.

Grant was the first to arrive on scene that day. Being a Moore graduate he knew right where to go when he heard the fieldhouse come over the scanners.

He knew back up was directly behind him, so he continued through the scene he described as looking like a bomb went off, straight to Townsend. After Townsend reportedly admitted to him that he was the driver of the truck, Grant detained him.

After some time, Grant was able to perform field sobriety tests on Townsend, which he noted he failed at. But, during the time with Townsend Grant testified that he didn’t see any remorse from him.

"It was different,” said Grant. “You could see it; I think his words in one body camera footage was come on give me a break…and I was thinking, I just drove through dead kids.”

Along with their team, Grant and White conducted the investigation into what happened that day. Both knew they had one shot to get it right.

We know we did it right,” said White. “But we don’t want that little crack for something to slide through."

The accident reconstruction team spent hours and days combing through the investigation with a fine-tooth comb. Finally, they handed over the case to the DA’s office and waited for their subpoena to testify and finish the job they started.

Reassurance came after five and a half hours of deliberations when Townsend was found guilty on all 10 counts with the jury recommending max sentences on all of them.

"Seeing Yuridia’s mom and dad,” said White, who was in the courtroom for the reading of the verdict. “Seeing Rachel’s mom and dad, Kolby’s mom and dad, seeing the tears. It was tears of pain in losing their kids, but it was also tears of joy that justice prevailed, and he is going to pay the price."

Related: Families Of Moore HS Runners Killed By Max Townsend Say Jury Verdict Was Justice For Them

But both officers said the one thing in this case they will never know, is why it happened.

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