Luis Daniel Perez
Luis Daniel Perez, 21, has been indicted by the Hamilton County Grand Jury on charges of vehicular homicide, driving on a divided highway, and two counts of driving under the influence in connection with a Jan. 20 fatal wreck.
The Grand Jury found that Perez drove intoxicated, crossed through an interstate median at an area not designated as a cross over or intersection by public authority” and killed 31-year-old Courtney Ponder-Vaught.
Perez is set to appear before Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz on March 27.
The crash happened at approximately 3:41 a.m.
in the 18000 block of I-24 westbound and involved a wrong-way driver, East Ridge Police said.
Responding officers located a Toyota Camry and a Chevrolet Trailblazer involved in a near head-on crash. The driver of the Toyota Camry, Ms. Ponder-Vaught, was deceased on the scene.
East Ridge Fire Department stabilized the Trailblazer due to its location on the dividing wall and used extrication equipment to remove the driver from the vehicle. Perez, the driver of the Trailblazer, was transported to the hospital via emergency traffic for serious injuries.
Ms. Vaught was a graduate of the Center for Creative Arts class of 2006 and Chattanooga State Community College. She was employed by CHI Memorial Hospital. She was a member of the Lookout Congregation of Jehovah’s Witness.
Survivors include her mother, Luvenia Newson-Taylor; father, Tony Ray Taylor; daughter, London Vaught; twin sister, Cydney Ponder-Cranford; brothers, Reginald Knight, Calvin Bolder, Vernon Ponder, Myron Ponder; grandmother, Luvenia Talley; former husband, Terrell Vaught; and other relatives and friends.
Courtney Ponder-Vaught