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Idaho Father Charged After Phone Use and Positive Drug Test Are Cited in Crash That Killed His 7-Year-Old

Phone activity recovered under warrant and a urine test reporting cocaine and opiates underpin prosecutors’ claim that reckless driving caused the fatal collision.

Overview

  • Investigators say the crash occurred on Interstate 84 on Nov. 25, 2025, when Austin Summers’ GMC Sierra rear-ended a slow-moving Ford F-450 and his son Graham, 7, in the front passenger seat died from blunt force injuries.
  • Idaho State Police and a crash reconstruction specialist concluded Summers’ reckless driving was the primary cause and treated the Ford’s mechanical trouble as a secondary factor.
  • A court-approved extraction of Summers’ phone reportedly shows activity between about 2:45 p.m. and the 3:02 p.m. crash, including messaging, scrolling Instagram, using the Amazon app, taking a photo/video of another crash, and drafting an Instagram Story.
  • Court records say a post-crash urine sample tested positive for cocaine and opiates, Summers acknowledged that his son’s seatbelt had been removed, and he has told police he does not recall the collision.
  • Prosecutors have charged Summers with one count of involuntary vehicular manslaughter and two counts of injury to a child; he is jailed on a $500,000 bond and the case will proceed through arraignment and pretrial filings while some early reports conflict about injuries to the two younger children.