Man freed after fatal Toyota crash 'tried everything' to stop car
A Minnesota man is grateful for his new found freedom after three years in prison for a fatal car crash he says wasn’t his fault. But Koua Fong Lee said on CNN’s “American Morning” on Monday that he can’t forget the tragic repercussions of the 2006 incident, which he says was caused by faulty Toyota brakes.
“Today, I’m free now. So, I feel really good to reunion with my family and to be with my family, but it’s still in my mind this accident’s cost to life. And even through I’m returned to my family, I’m free, but three people that died on that day cannot return to their families,” Lee said.
On Thursday, Ramsey County, Minnesota, District Judge Joanne Smith ordered Lee’s release from prison, pending a new trial related to the sudden-acceleration crash of his Toyota Camry that killed three people.
Ramsey County Prosecutor Susan Gaertner immediately said she would drop the charges and wouldn’t retry Lee.
“Mr. Lee will be a free man,” Gaertner said in a written statement.
A jury convicted Lee of criminal vehicular homicide in 2007, and he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Lee had always maintained his innocence, saying the 1996 Camry accelerated uncontrollably before it crashed into two vehicles, killing a man, his 10-year-old son and a 6-year-old girl.
“I also want people to know that I’m not the one who caused the accident and I try everything I could to stop my car,” Lee said on “American Morning” on Monday.
On Thursday, Lee asked the victims’ family to forgive him and believe his story. In fact, the family of the victims had long ago become convinced of Lee’s innocence and joined the effort to free him. They are suing Toyota.
“It’s a bittersweet victory,” Bridgette Trice, whose daughter died of injuries suffered in the crash, told CNN affiliate KARE-TV on Thursday. “I’m happy for the Lee family, that they’re getting their justice. We want answers, and they’re coming slowly but they’re coming surely.”
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