LAYTON — Two people were killed late Tuesday when a man driving the wrong way on U.S. 89 in Layton crossed into oncoming traffic and hit another vehicle head-on.
Danae Stevens, 51, and Jared Facer, 30, died at the scene of the accident Tuesday night. Both were from Layton.
Facer was a suspect in a domestic violence case who two minutes earlier had attempted to speed away from officers in a silver Mazda, according to Layton police.
Just before 11 p.m., Layton police were called to a home on a report of a domestic violence situation. Dispatchers also received reports that Facer was suicidal, said Layton Police Lt. Travis Lyman.
As officers were responding to the call, they spotted Facer driving away from the house, Lyman said. An officer attempted to pull the car over at 11:06 p.m. by turning on his red and blue lights, but Facer sped away.
Layton police did not chase Facer, according to Lyman. The officer was immediately instructed not to engage in a pursuit, and turned off his lights.
Just two minutes later, at 11:08 p.m., police received a report of a crash on U.S. 89 near Tanglewood Drive. Investigators discovered Facer had gone into oncoming traffic and slammed head-on with Stevens’ vehicle, he said.
Detectives are investigating whether Facer purposely hit Stevens’ vehicle.