Tyquel Zanders was sentenced to 35 years behind bars on Thursday for a December 2022 police chase and crash that killed two Brusly teenagers, Maggie Dunn and Caroline Gill, and injured Maggie's brother, Liam Dunn, and an Addis police officer. Zanders pleaded guilty to all the charges against him two months earlier, on Sept. 14, avoiding a trial altogether.
According to Unfiltered with Kiran, Zanders faced two counts of manslaughter, aggravated obstruction of a highway, aggravated flight and negligent injuring. Under his plea deal he could have faced up to 40 years in prison, the outlet reported. Instead, the judge handed down 35 years for each manslaughter count, 10 years for aggravated flight, 15 years for aggravated obstruction, six months for negligent injuring and 90 days for reckless operation, with all of the sentences set to run concurrently.
How the Chase Began
The pursuit started in Baton Rouge, where officials said Zanders broke into his parents' home, assaulted his father, and then stole their car on Dec. 31, 2022. From there, the chase led officers through East Baton Rouge Parish and into West Baton Rouge Parish, where Addis Police Officer David Lee Cauthron joined the pursuit on La. 1 southbound.
As the chase approached a red light on La. 1, Cauthron was also speeding to keep up, and he crashed into a car carrying two Brusly High cheerleaders and a young man. The 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office of Louisiana said Zanders himself went through a red light on La. Hwy. 1 north at East St. Francis Street at more than 100 miles per hour during the pursuit. Maggie Dunn and Caroline Gill, described as teenage best friends, were both killed in the crash, while Liam Dunn, 21, sustained serious injuries and survived. Cauthron was also injured.
A Second Guilty Plea in the Same Crash
Cauthron's own role in the fatal crash led to charges as well. The district attorney's office said he pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter and one count of negligent injury, receiving a 32-year sentence with 22 years suspended, resulting in 10 years to serve in hard labor followed by three years of probation. Cauthron pleaded guilty at a March 18 hearing and received a sentence of 10 years to serve, with 22 years suspended from an initial 32-year term.
Pursuit Numbers and New Alert Technology
The case has also become a reference point in broader conversations about police pursuits in the region. The Shreveport-Bossier Advocate reported that 5,425 police pursuits resulted in fatal crashes nationwide between 2009 and 2023, with a 2% increase each year. The same report noted that Baton Rouge Police initiated more than 1,200 pursuits from 2013 through 2023, with 10% of pursuits in the latter half of that period resulting in a crash.
In the years since the Brusly crash, area agencies have moved to adopt pursuit-alert technology. Brusly became the first Louisiana town to adopt the Digital Siren system in 2024, installing it in nine patrol units, per the Advocate. The Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office has equipped all 40 of its units with the system, while West Baton Rouge Parish has installed it in 21 units.
What the Charges Carry Under State Law
Louisiana's manslaughter statute allows for imprisonment at hard labor for not more than 40 years, according to the Louisiana State Legislature. The state's aggravated obstruction of a highway of commerce statute, meanwhile, caps imprisonment at not more than 15 years, with or without hard labor, per the Louisiana State Legislature. Zanders's 15-year sentence for that count matches the maximum allowed under the statute, while his 35-year terms for manslaughter fall short of the 40-year ceiling.
