Teen driver of stolen Kia crashes into NIST engineer, killing father of five

Around 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, a stolen Kia Optima packed with seven minors aged between 12 and 15 slammed into the Toyota of William Vance Payne II, a 58-year-old mechanical engineer commuting to the National Institutes of Standards and Technology in Germantown, Maryland. The collision killed Payne at the intersection, and he was pronounced dead on site. Police identified the driver as a 13-year-old boy who was rushed to a local hospital in critical but stable condition.

Four girls (ages 14, 14, 13, 12) and two boys (ages 15 and 12) were also transported to various trauma centers, though their conditions were not disclosed. Montgomery County Police spokeswoman noted that none of the occupants were of legal driving age. The theft of the 2015 Kia Optima earlier that day remains under investigation, and the State’s Attorney’s Office has not yet filed charges.