DAYTON — The trial for a man accused of stealing a Riverside police cruiser and causing a crash that killed two 6-year-old girls has been pushed back to March 2022, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.
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The trial for Raymond A. Walters, 34, of Dayton, had been set to start Monday. However, his trial is now scheduled to start in March after a defense attorney for Walters requested to be removed from the case, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Walters is facing over a dozen charges for the the August 2019 incidents, which included a stabbing involving his own father, a stolen police cruiser, and deadly crash in downtown Dayton, investigators have previously said. Walters is facing charges of murder, aggravated vehicular assault, grand theft, and others.
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On August 26, 2019, police said Walters stabbed his father on Xenia Avenue in Dayton while they were in a pickup truck. Walters then stole the truck and crashed it later in Riverside on Airway Road.
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While police were investigating, officers said he jumped in the front seat of the Riverside cruiser, and despite being hit with a Taser twice, was able to drive off and reached speeds of 100 mph.
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Walters hit multiple vehicles while traveling 97 mph in the cruiser before crashing near the Dayton Metro Library on Third Street, investigators said.
Two 6-year-old girls in the van, Penelope Jasko of Dayton and Eleanor McBride of Huber Heights, died at Dayton Children’s Hospital following the crash. They were cousins, according to the family’s priest.
Walters has remained jailed in the Montgomery County Jail ahead of the start of his trial.
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