A nearly six-year quest for justice reached a grim chapter as a San Jose man was convicted of murder in connection with a merciless 2018 hit and run that ended one promising young life and shattered many others. Troy Moulton, previously a 56-year-old without a valid driver's license, now faces life behind bars after a jury found him guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter and unlawful operation of a motor vehicle, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office revealed.
The gruesome incident unfolded on February 23, 2018, when Barrett Grabow, a 24-year-old Santa Clara University law student, became an unwitting target. As documented by a press release from the DA's Office, Moulton tore through a serene San Jose neighborhood at a reckless 50 miles per hour, blasting past a stop sign and catching Grabow mid-stride in the ill-fated crosswalk. The collision catapulted the victim into a grisly tableau, half in and half out of the windshield, a spectacle of horror as Moulton continued to drive, desperately swerving to free the car from its human burden.
Moulton's subsequent maneuvers, as cold as they were callous, were captured on a neighbor's home security video—his high-speed U-turn, the dumping of a still-breathing Grabow onto a dark sidewalk, and his escape from the scene leaving no direction for the gathering witnesses desperately searching for the victim. His attempt to conceal the damaged vehicle behind a funeral home the following day proved futile; Moulton turned himself in to the police after a day in hiding. Grabow, meanwhile, succumbed to his injuries three days post-collision, the DA's office reported.
"Finally, after six years, this young man’s long-suffering family has some closure," District Attorney Jeff Rosen remarked on national television, as the DA's office press release echoes. Praise was extended to the alert witnesses whose immediate call to police and aid in locating Grabow in the accident's wake was a contrasting human response to the void left by Moulton's profound absence of empathy. Moulton is slated to receive his sentence at 9 a.m. on April 5 at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, promising a somber end to this chapter of justice with potential life imprisonment.
