Detroit man charged in wrong-way crash that killed 26-year-old man last year

(CBS DETROIT) - A 42-year-old Detroit man has been charged in connection to a wrong-way crash that killed a 26-year-old man and injured another.

Damien Eldridge Thomas was charged with operating while intoxicated causing death and reckless driving causing death, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

At 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 26, 2023, troopers responded to southbound I-75 near Clark Street in Detroit after receiving a report of a three-vehicle crash.

When they arrived, they found 26-year-old Drasan Clanton unresponsive inside his vehicle and a 27-year-old man with injuries in another car.

Clanton was struck head-on by the drunk driver who was traveling northbound in his lane. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The defendant and the injured 27-year-old were taken to a local hospital.

Thomas was arrested on Aug. 22 after an investigation by Michigan State Police, nearly a year after the incident had occurred.

He was arraigned Friday morning and given a $50,000 bond and was ordered to wear a tether.

Thomas' probable cause conference is scheduled for Aug. 30 and his preliminary examination is scheduled for Sept. 6.

Earlier this week, CBS News Detroit's Alysia Burgio spoke with Clanton's mother, Kim, who was demanding accountability after her son was killed in the crash last year.

"I want justice for my son. Justice for Drasan. I don't want anybody to ever have to go through. I can't describe what I and my family have gone through to have such a loss, and I just want justice for him," Kim Clanton said during the interview.

Just before interviewing with Burgio, Kim Clanton received a call from the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office notifying her that someone had been assigned to her case. This came after she and her family had been reaching out to the prosecutor's office every week over the last year with questions. Up until this update, they hadn't received any answers.

At 7 p.m. on Aug. 26, she's holding a vigil for her son at Felker Park on the one-year anniversary of his death.