Owasso Teenager Charged With Murder After High-Speed Crash Killed 2

Prosecutors in Payne County filed two second-degree murder charges against an 18-year-old from Owasso on Thursday. Luke House is accused of driving over 160 miles per hour on State Highway 51 before colliding head-on with another vehicle.  

“It was horrific,” said Laura Thomas, district attorney for Payne and Logan Counties.  

Around 4:15 a.m. Saturday, House allegedly crashed a Ford Mustang into a Chevy Impala occupied by Virginia Winston and Jeremi Smith. House was moving eastbound in the westbound lanes of traffic ahead of the crash, according to Stillwater police.  

Smith, a 40-year-old from Oklahoma City, died at the scene. The passenger in House’s vehicle, 18-year-old Ryan Begnaud of Austin, TX also died.  

Winston suffered serious injuries including several broken bones. Her family told News 9 Friday she was still recovering in a hospital.  

News 9 was unable to contact House for this story. No attorney or contact information was listed for House on online court records.  

Thomas said she decided to file charges above felony manslaughter because of the speed at which House was allegedly driving.  

“He's driving the wrong way on Highway 51 at speeds in excess of 160 miles an hour in his cute little sports car,” Thomas told News 9 Friday. “When you are racing down the street at that speed going the wrong way, you're going to kill someone. There's no way you're not going to kill someone."  

“We filed under the depraved mind section of (second-degree murder), which is a person doing an act in total and complete disregard of the safety of others and doing an act which was a high risk of harm,” Thomas said.  

A Stillwater police lieutenant wrote in a probable cause affidavit that "trained medical professionals" conducted a toxicology test on House, which found he "was under the influence of alcohol. Thomas said blood tests that will determine whether House had used drugs or alcohol are still processing. 

Thomas added that she intends to file additional charges to reflect Winston’s injuries.  

Police arrested House at his home in Rogers County. A judge set a $100,000 bond for House, according to online court records.  

House is set to be arraigned in Payne County next week.  

Stillwater police released body camera footage Friday showing the moment an officer arrived on the scene of the crash.