A man was indicted on 12 counts related to last August’s vehicular homicide of Ben Kredich, the son of Tennessee director of swimming and diving Matt Kredich.
Shannon Walker, 44, was charged with vehicular homicide and a DUI after the tragic crash along Kingston Pike near Thimbleberry Road. Ben, 24, was walking to meet Matt for their weekly dinner at Sunspot when the crash occurred. The case was referred to a grand jury last September.
Now Walker is facing one count of vehicular homicide, one count of vehicular homicide driving under the influence, one count of DUI, five counts of reckless endangerment, two counts of possession with the intent to sell or deliver a controlled substance, one count of possession with the intent to sell, deliver or manufacture xylazine, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
One vehicular homicide charge places the blame on Walker while the other blames his alleged intoxication. According to the indictment, he is also accused of possessing less than 200 grams of the Schedule II controlled substance ANPP and more than half a gram of fentanyl.
A date has not been set yet for an arraignment hearing, where Walker will have the chance to enter his plea. His case was heard by the grand jury on April 17. Court records indicate his criminal history stretches back more than two decades, including a DUI in 2000 and aggravated assault in 2001.
Ben was enrolled at the University of Tennessee in the FUTURE Program, which is designed for students with developmental disabilities, giving them the opportunity to continue their education after high school. However, the program didn’t provide its students with access to on-campus housing, which was something he and his mother, Kim, took issue with.
A bill was created, known as “Ben’s Bill” or SB 0516, and Ben and Kim took it to the State Senate.
The bill prohibits post-secondary programs with the Comprehensive Transition and Post-Secondary Program designation from the U.S. Department of Education and offer it to assist students with intellectual disabilities from approving or denying a student residential housing on the campus or in affiliation with the institution solely because the student’s receipt of a Tennessee STEP UP scholarship (what students in the FUTURE program have). Ben testified on the Senate floor in March of 2019 while he was in his second year of university, and the bill passed through the Senate by a vote of 26-4.
The route Ben was walking on, down the Kingston Pike, previously had a bus route that he would take to school. After the route was discontinued due to work shortage in 2022, Ben advocated with city officials for the route to continue, saying that he didn’t feel safe walking that stretch of Kingston Pike.
Tennessee honored Ben with special caps during an SEC showdown last November against Florida and Kentucky. The apparel was designed by his twin brother, Miles, who previously swam for the Savannah College of Art of Design (SCAD) and was a two-time NAIA national champ in the 200 fly.
James Sutherland contributed to this report.
Such a tragedy, parents should never have to bury their child. Prayers to the Kredich family for peace. May Ben live on through all the work he did along with the work his amazing family continues to do.
Prayers to the Kredich family. Hopefully the Ben Kredich Act will save lives by preventing drivers like the one that killed Ben from getting right back behind the wheel of a car after being given Narcan for an opioid overdose.
I have meant way too many people who while sober have insisting to me that they are totally fine to drive with a bit of something in that system.
That right there is how it happens. They all think they’re not like everyone else, they could handle it, they can do it just this time. Then the next. Then the next. Then someone’s dead.
Don’t be that guy.
As someone who was that guy and has struggled for almost 20 years with drugs and alcohol and now 2 months clean and sober after losing literally everything , my home , my girl , my little ones you name it ( my own fault no one else’s ) I’m fortunate I never hurt or killed someone i think about everyday every horrible scenario I could’ve caused . I’m sorry for his family I can’t imagine the rage and anger . There should be harsher restrictions after just one dui
Baffling justice takes this wrong. Prayers to Kredich family
Jail forever.
Read about Walker’s other arrests. Time to lock him up and throw away the key. And I almost never say anything like that.
Not that this isn’t tragic enough, but this is a failure on just a societal level.
“I want them to just drop me off at Kingston Pike because all the cars. I didn’t want to get hit by the cars, which can be dangerous,” Kredich said at the time.
https://www.wvlt.tv/2023/08/22/young-man-killed-pedestrian-crash-had-raised-safety-concerns-about-suspending-knoxville-bus-route/