HAZEL PARK, Mich. (WXYZ) — A Detroit man has been charged in connection to a wrong-way crash along I-75 that killed a Hazel Park man last August.
According to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, 42-year-old Damien Thomas has been charged with operating while intoxicated causing death and reckless driving causing death.
Drasan Clanton, 26, died in a crash after a wrong-way driver got on southbound I-75 in the wrong direction in southwest Detroit. The driver hit Clanton's car head-on near Clark Avenue, killing him.
As the one-year anniversary of the crash approaches Monday, Clanton's family told us on Thursday they were still waiting for someone to be arrested and charged.
Those charges came on Friday.
"I just want my son back and I want Justice for him. It’s hard knowing that somebody who did this and is responsible is not being held accountable, just living their life like nothing happened and something happened. His life mattered," said Kim Clanton of her son."You cannot heal. It’s very challenging and I look at everybody else because I’m stuck on August 26, 2023."
Clanton says losing her son was the most challenging thing she's faced. She says it was especially hard knowing her son had traveled so many miles as a truck driver for FedEx only to lose his life in a car crash on a night off hanging with family.
"One of the things that hurts the most is I don’t have anything left besides pictures and videos and I just spend a lot of time here at home looking at pictures and videos and wishing I could pick him up out of there. He’s so lively and his personality shines through and I can’t look at them enough because other than that it’s like he’s fading," said Clanton.
Clanton says even her car, which her son was driving that night, is still in a tow lot as a part of the investigation.
She said she spent the last year calling the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office asking for answers to no avail and it wasn’t until this week she was notified a prosecutor had even been assigned to the case.
"It’s hard and every day it’s torture because every day I wake up to the nightmare that he’s gone and I’m not going to talk to him. It’s the first thing I realize every morning that my son is gone," said Clanton.
7 News Detroit reached out to the prosecutor’s office to ask why the case was dragging along. While they couldn’t tell us more about the timeline of the investigation, a spokesperson says they have contacted the family and a prosecutor is reviewing the case.
"I want to know that my son is resting peacefully that my spirit is resting that I’ve done everything that I can do for justice for my son and I’m not gonna stop. I’ll never stop," said Clanton.
Monday at 7 p.m., on the crash anniversary, the Clanton family will be hosting a candlelight vigil at Felker Park in Hazel Park celebrating Drasan's life. The Clanton family is also working to launch the Drasan Justin Clanton Foundation with hopes of sponsoring one person per year to go to the truck driving school in their son's honor.
