The blood-alcohol levels of State Rep. Quentin Williams and the wrong-way driver blamed for the early January crash that killed them both were far above the legal limit for driving, according to a state police investigation.
Williams’ blood alcohol level was 0.159%, and Kimede Katie Mustafaj’s was 0.137%. The legal limit for driving is 0.08%.
Both Williams and Mustafaj had traces of THC in their blood, according to the investigation, which was released Wednesday evening and includes more than 300 pages of documentation.
Williams was driving about 85.8 mph, and Mustafaj was driving about 56.9 mph, the investigation found. It concluded Mustafaj was at fault.
Both were killed in a fiery crash on Route 9 in Cromwell in the early morning of Jan. 5. The investigation concluded that Mustafa was driving the wrong way on Route 9 and had been for miles before the accident occurred. She had entered Route 9 after crossing over the Arrigoni Bridge into Middletown.
Williams was driving an Infiniti Q60 in the far left lane heading south on Route 9 near exit 18 when the crash occurred, about 12:45 a.m.
Mustafaj was driving a Toyota Corolla north in the southbound lane and collided head-on with the car Williams was driving.
The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that both Williams and Mustafaj died from blunt trauma to the head and torso.
Williams had attended the governor’s inaugural ball in Hartford and was returning to Middletown at the time of the crash. He had taken the oath of office for his third term just hours before on the first day of the General Assembly session.
Gov. Ned Lamont on Wednesday told reporters that Williams “was hit head-on by a wrong-way driver who didn’t go to any inaugural balls,” according to Connecticut Public. “That was the cause of Q’s tragic death.”
“We’re lawmakers, and we’re held to all sorts of different standards, but I think we’re also human beings as well,” House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday. “I think it was important for us to want to share with our members in the case any of you wanted to go up to them and ask them a question, for them to be prepared for that.”
On Tuesday, Democratic leaders told their members in a caucus that Williams was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
Following Williams’ death, the legislature held public hearings on how to combat the number of fatalities and pedestrians killed by cars on state roads in the last few years.
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.