Courts

Trempealeau County driver appears in court for homicide in deadly highway crash from last March

Published

8 months ago

September 19, 2023

A driver from Trempealeau County has made his initial court appearance on a homicide charge, after a deadly highway accident that happened six months ago.

Gavin Becker of Independence is accused of homicide by negligent driving, and obstructing police.

Investigators say Becker crossed the center line on Highway 53 in the Galesville area last March 17th, and crashed head-on into an SUV. The woman driving the SUV, 64-year-old Jeannie Furlin of Trempealeau, was killed in the collision. A one-year-old passenger in Furlin’s vehicle was not hurt.

Becker has admitted to looking at his phone just before the crash, after originally claiming that his steering wheel had locked up. The homicide charge was filed in August. Becker’s next court date in Whitehall is on October 10th.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.