Man high on mushrooms ran red light, caused fatal crash, jury finds

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Clackamas County jury convicted a man on Tuesday on two counts of manslaughter and other crimes after he caused a fatal car crash while high on psychedelic mushrooms in 2023, authorities said.

Fullington William Frazer III, 23, sped through a red light in his Dodge Caliber at 60 miles per hour before colliding with two cars on December 30, 2023, the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office said.

Frazer had been giving his roommate, Mitchell Scott Barr, a ride to the grocery store in Milwaukie when the crash happened near the intersection of Southeast Freeman Way and Highway 224 just before 8 p.m. He struck a Subaru Forester and a Toyota Prius.

Barr, 24, was ejected from Frazer’s car and died. The driver of the Subaru, Fleetwood Mars Mozee, 37, was also killed in the crash. The driver and the passenger in the Prius were both injured.

Prosecutors said Frazer exhibited strange behavior after the crash. At one point, when he was asked if he needed medical attention, Frazer responded, “I just want the love.”

Frazer was taken to the Oregon Health and Science University hospital and said during an interview with an Oregon State Police trooper that he did not remember having a passenger in his car. After being told two people died in the crash, Frazer reportedly said, “Are they okay?”

Frazer had psilocybin mushrooms in his system, a toxicology test confirmed.

Later in jail, Frazer laughed while talking about his dead roommate, prosecutors said.

An Oregon State Police trooper who responded to the scene called it “one of the most destructive crashes he’d ever seen,” said Clackamas County Deputy District Attorney Chelsea Jones in her closing argument. 

At the time of the crash, Frazer was on probation for a 2021 public indecency conviction. He had previously been involved in a high-speed crash in Portland in March of 2023 and was the only person injured in that incident, court records show.

Frazer was convicted on two counts of first-degree manslaughter, DUII, reckless driving, two counts of recklessly endangering another person and two counts of fourth-degree assault. He is slated to be sentenced on May 2.