Teenager charged with reckless homicide for fatal October crash in Barron County

BARRON, Wis. (WEAU) - A Rice Lake teenager is charged months after a crash last October in Barron County that killed two teenage girls and hurt another.

17-year-old Troy Huehn, Jr. was charged with two counts of 2nd-degree reckless homicide, one count of 2nd-degree reckless injury, two counts of knowingly operating a motor vehicle without a license causing death and one count of the same causing great bodily harm, all felonies, according to online court records.

The criminal complaint filed with the charges says on October 10, 2022, Huehn, who was 16 years old at the time, was the driver of a vehicle that crashed and rolled over near Cameron. 15-year-old Winter Broulliard and 14-year-old Evah Garcia were killed as a result of the crash, while another teenage girl, who was 14 at the time, was flown to a hospital for treatment of a serious arm injury. The Barron County Sheriff’s Department said at the time of the crash that the driver, who was not identified at the time, was operating under the influence of a controlled substance. Huehn was treated for minor injuries at the scene of the crash before being taken into custody, according to a Sheriff’s Department release last October. The Rice Lake School District said that all of the teenagers involved in the crash were current or former students.

The crash happened on 16 1/2 Avenue near 19 3/4 Street, or about halfway between Cameron and Rice Lake. First responders arrived six minutes after a 911 call reported the crash, with deputies finding the vehicle upside down in a yard near the intersection. The three teenage girls were taken to hospitals, with two of them needing extrication. Investigators said the vehicle belonged to the mother of one of the girls, who let Huehn drive it believing that he had a driver’s license. Huehn did not have a license or a learner’s permit. Huehn told investigators that he was purposely taking back roads to avoid being pulled over. Before the crash, Huehn said that he sped up to go over a bump near railroad tracks at 70mph, causing the vehicle to go airborne, and lost control when the vehicle landed, causing the crash.

According to the criminal complaint, the girl who survived the crash told investigators that she and the other girls in the back seat of the car all told Huehn that he was going too fast. The girl said that she saw the speedometer reach 106mph before going airborne. She said that Huehn was allowed to drive the vehicle because the vehicle’s owner thought he was 18 and had a license.

“It’s tragic. It’s unexplainable,” Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said in an interview with KARE 11 in October about the crash. “It’s hard to explain to kids.”

Fitzgerald said in October that the Sheriff’s Department would use the crash as an example for other kids to talk about alcohol and drugs, and making choices that have consequences.

Huehn’s initial appearance in Barron County Circuit Court is scheduled for Feb. 8, according to online court records.

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