The 32-year-old man accused in the high-speed crash that left a Washington State Patrol trooper dead insisted on his innocence in court. Raul Benitez-Santana pleaded not guilty to charges of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault as reported by KING 5 News. Trooper Chris Gadd, 27, was tragically killed in the early morning of March 2, when Benitez-Santana's vehicle slammed into Gadd’s parked patrol car on the side of I-5 near Marysville.

The defense has called the incident a tragic accident, zeroing in on the detail that Trooper Gadd’s cruiser lights were off at the time of the crash. This fact is coupled with Benitez-Santana’s blood alcohol level being below the legal limit, raising questions about the criminality of the tragic event. “It is dark, it is invisible, the lights are off. Mr. Benitez-Santana sees that vehicle, sees those lights come on one second before impact, and he slams on his brakes a half second after he sees those lights,” Benitez-Santana’s attorney, Emily Hancock, argued in court, according to a quote by KOMO News.

Despite the plea from defense, speeds reported by court documents painted a chaotic picture just before the tragedy occurred. Benitez-Santana was allegedly driving at 112 mph, applying brakes less than a second before colliding into Gadd’s cruiser at a deadly 107 mph. An entire sequence of the incident was reportedly captured on a nearby truck's camera, and witnesses affirmed seeing the suspect driving recklessly.

Prosecutors were quick to dismantle the defense's claim that driving on the shoulder could ever be justified. "They continue to argue the defendant’s driving on the shoulder was a justified and proper traffic maneuver when in fact the shoulder is not part of roadway, it is not legal to drive on the shoulder," said Tobin Darrow, a deputy prosecuting attorney with the Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney's office. He further emphasized, relayed by KATU News, even driving at the speed limit on the shoulder would be reckless, "much less almost double that at 112 mph."

The case is further complicated by Benitez-Santana's immigration status. He is a citizen of Mexico living in the United States unlawfully, as stated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Being held on a $1 million dollar bail, the gravity of the event and the ensuing legal battle remain fixtures in the Washington State community, echoing the perils of reckless driving and the sheer abruptness of tragedy.