Impaired Driver Loses Control of Car and Kills Passenger

DA Charme Allen announces that prosecutors in the DUI Unit obtained convictions against an impaired driver who killed his passenger after losing control of his vehicle while passing a car on a blind hill.  Timothy D. Hooks, 24, was convicted of Vehicular Homicide and Reckless Endangerment.  Judge Steve Sword accepted Hooks’ plea and sentenced him to serve ten years in prison without the possibility of parole.

In a plea hearing today, Assistant District Attorney Mitch Eisenberg explained to the Court that on June 6, 2023, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office responded to a single-vehicle wreck on Collier Road.  The investigation uncovered that Hooks was recklessly driving a vehicle, passing a car on a blind hill and heading toward oncoming traffic, before he lost control of his vehicle and struck a tree.  The impact of the wreck killed Hooks’ passenger.  Hooks fled the scene but was apprehended by KCSO.  Hooks told officers that another man was driving the vehicle and fled on foot.  He later told medical personnel that his passenger was the driver.  Forensic testing by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation revealed that Hooks’ blood alcohol content was 0.17, more than twice the legal limit.  He also had methamphetamine and marijuana in his system.

“The selfish decisions of this driver left parents without a daughter and four children without a mother,” said DA Allen.

Hooks must serve the entirety of his ten-year sentence in the Tennessee Department of Correction without the possibility of parole.  Assistant Victim Witness Coordinator Brittany Wilhelmson and Jennifer Stout aided in the prosecution of this case.

If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.