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SLCPD Provides Update on Deadly Crash, 19-Year-Old Charged with Manslaughter

SALT LAKE CITY — Today, the Salt Lake City Police Department announced criminal charges have been filed in a deadly crash from 2022.

This investigation started at 10:42 p.m. on Monday, December 26, 2022, when a Salt Lake City Police bike officer came across a crash at 600 North 900 West.

For more information on the crash, please click here.

The crash critically injured 61-year-old Rosa Elena Mendez.

Paramedics took her to the hospital where she later died.

Detectives with the Collision Analysis Reconstruction (CAR) Team identified 19-year-old Eastyn Tueller as the person responsible for the crash.

Detectives worked with the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office throughout the investigation.

The district attorney’s office, on behalf of the State of Utah, filed criminal charges on February 16, 2024.

According to court documents, Tueller is accused of operating a motor vehicle while impaired. Just before the crash, it is estimated her car reached speeds of nearly 100 miles per hour as she ran a red light.

Officers with the West Valley City Police Department safely arrested Tueller on February 16, 2024.

Officers booked Tueller into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on charges that include manslaughter, negligently operating a vehicle resulting in death, negligently operating a vehicle resulting in serious bodily injury, reckless driving, unlawful purchase, possession, consumption by minor, driving on a denied license, open container/drinking alcohol in a vehicle, red light violation, speeding and failure to obey traffic control device.

Tueller made her first court appearance on Wednesday, February 21, 2024.

The Collision Analysis & Reconstruction (CAR) Team and SLCPD Crime Lab technicians responded to the scene.

The CAR Team is a multi-jurisdictional crash team that investigates crashes involving serious physical injuries or death. Members of the CAR Team receive specialized training in collision examination, speed analysis, vehicle dynamics, occupant kinematics, scene photography, surveying equipment, crash scene mapping, evidence collection and computer aided drawing programs.

The CAR Team includes law enforcement from the Salt Lake City Police Department and several other Salt Lake Valley law enforcement agencies.

Charges are only allegations, and every arrested person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Salt Lake City Police Department is not the custodian of record for jail booking photos. Utah Code 17-22-30 mostly prohibits the release of jail booking photos. Generally, a jail booking photo can only be released by the custodian of record after a conviction or when law enforcement determines the person is a fugitive or an imminent threat to a person or public safety.

In Salt Lake City, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office is the custodian of record for jail booking photos.

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