A 19-year-old Monmouth man has pleaded not guilty to multiple felony counts of reckless homicide and aggravated DUI in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 74 near Knoxville that killed two people.
Brian Boyer appeared Tuesday in Knox County court. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing and asked for a jury trial.
Boyer is charged with two counts of reckless homicide and three counts of aggravated DUI.
The crash happened around 2:10 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 30 at mile marker 55. Boyer was driving a Chevrolet Malibu eastbound in the westbound lane when he struck a motorcycle. The driver and passenger of the motorcycle were pronounced dead at the scene.
Boyer also has a pending misdemeanor case in Knox County for possession of liquor by a minor. Charges were filed in that case in late July of this year.
Judge Andrew Doyle denied pretrial release in the reckless homicide case and revoked it in the misdemeanor case following the fatal crash.
The Knox County State’s Attorney’s Office cited the nature of the offense and Boyer’s previous criminal history related to alcohol in the petition to deny pretrial release.
Boyer was on court supervision in a separate DUI case in Warren County at the time of the fatal crash.
In the Warren County case, sheriff’s deputies arrested Boyer, then 18, after reports of a truck driving erratically and nearly hitting another vehicle near Monmouth in September 2025.
Deputies pulled Boyer over at the Walgreens in Monmouth and found multiple containers of alcohol in the truck as well as cannabis.
He was charged in that case with unlawful possession of cannabis, illegal transportation of alcohol, improper lane usage, DUI, and DUI with blood alcohol concentration over .08.
In May of this year, Boyer pleaded guilty to DUI with BAC over .08 in the Warren County case. He was sentenced to two years court supervision and 100 hours of community service, and he was mandated to undergo alcohol treatment. All other charges were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
A pretrial hearing in the Knox County felony case is set for Oct. 5. Boyer has retained private defense counsel in that case.
