On Saturday, May 28, at about 1:10 a.m., a fatal collision occurred on Interstate 17 southbound near at milepost 302, four miles north of the State Route 179 exit.
The driver, 19-year-old Charles Mann, of Mesa, of a gold Saturn Vue died from injuries he sustained in the collision. A front seat passenger, 19-year-old Taylor Ross, of Chandler, was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A gold Saturn Vue similar to this was involved in the crash.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety is seeking information from anyone who may have witnessed the collision or saw other vehicles involved with the Saturn prior to, or after the collision occurred.
If you have any information, video, or other knowledge of this incident, you are asked to contact the Watch Center tip line at (602) 644-5805. Reference Department Report Number: I22029776.
If you would like to remain anonymous, tips can be submitted to the DPS Tip Line at: p3tips.com/tipform.aspx
Christopher Fox Graham is the managing editor of the Sedona Rock Rocks News, The Camp Verde Journal and the Cottonwood Journal Extra. Hired by Larson Newspapers as a copy editor in 2004, he became assistant manager editor in October 2009 and managing editor in August 2013. Graham has won awards for editorials, investigative news reporting, headline writing, page design and community service from the Arizona Newspapers Association. Graham has also been featured in Editor & Publisher magazine. He lectures on journalism and First Amendment law and is a nationally recognized performance aka slam poet. Retired U.S. Army Col. John Mills, former director of Cybersecurity Policy, Strategy, and International Affairs referred to him as "Mr. Slam Poet." In January 2025, the International Astronomical Union formally named asteroid 29722 Chrisgraham (1999 AQ23) in his honor at the behest of Lowell Observatory, citing him as "an American journalist and longtime managing editor of Sedona Red Rock News. He is a nationally-recognized slam poet who has written and performed multiple poems about Pluto and other space themes."
