Guilty Plea Entered In Case Of Fiery Fatal Crash In Manchester

MANCHESTER, CT — The teen driver involved in a fiery 2017 crash in Manchester that left three high school students dead has entered a guilty plea in the case, authorities said.

Jordan Cross, who was 17 in May of 2017 when the crash took place and is now 18, entered the guilty plea to three counts of first-degree manslaughter on Tuesday in Hartford Superior Court, a clerk said. He had also been facing assault and reckless endangerment charges.

Cross, who has been free on a $150,000 bond, is due back before a judge on May 3, two days short of a year since he was arrested, court records show.

Case records point to two cars racing at better than 85 mph at 1:20 a.m.

Cross, an unlicensed driver, crashed his vehicle into a pole on Center Street, according to case records. The car burst into flames and three backseat passengers — 18-year-old William King, 21-year-old Bernaria Mickens and 17-year-old Devon Smith, case records show.

Manslaughter in the first degree is a Class B felony in Connecticut with a potential sentence of 20 years, a clerk at the court said.

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