Complaint: Woman who fatally hit pedestrian on East Washington Avenue was driving nearly twice the speed limit

By Logan Reigstad Dec 23, 2021 | 4:42 PM

MADISON, Wis. — A Madison woman faces two felony charges stemming from a fatal crash on the city’s east side earlier this year.

Janessa Cardenas, 25, was charged Wednesday with second-degree reckless homicide and homicide by vehicle – use of a controlled substance in connection with the crash that killed 37-year-old Ashley Taylor.

The crash happened just before 9:45 p.m. on April 3 in the 3800 block of East Washington Avenue near the Hy-Vee grocery store. Taylor, whose friends called him Cameron, died at the scene about an hour after the crash.

An autopsy ruled his death to be caused by blunt force injuries from the crash.

According to a criminal complaint, data taken from an airbag control module on the car Cardenas was driving found she was traveling at 66 miles per hour five seconds before the crash and 75 miles per hour one second before the crash. The speed limit in the area is 40 miles per hour.

A blood draw found Cardenas had Delta-9-THC in her system at the time, the complaint alleges.

Online court records show Cardenas is set to make an initial court appearance on January 10.

Days after the crash, police said they had no plans to charge Cardenas, who they described as having cooperated with their investigation.

Two witnesses reportedly told police at the time they did not see Taylor in the road before he was hit.