Ex-Washington Commanders safety Deshazor Everett and two former teammates face a $25 million suit in Virginia over the 2021 car crash that killed the now-free agent’s girlfriend.
The suit, brought by the mother of his deceased girlfriend, Olivia Peters, accuses Everett, cornerback Benjamin St-Juste, and linebacker Jamin Davis of causing the lethal accident by racing their vehicles and violating numerous traffic laws—including, in Everett’s case, torquing up his Nissan GT-R’s horsepower with nitrous oxide, which is illegal in Virginia. The National Football League, the Commanders team, and attorneys for the players all declined to comment to the Washington Post, which first reported the suit.
According to the suit, besides the nitrous oxide injection, the trio’s “illegal and reckless conduct” included tearing past the posted speed limit, cutting into the opposite traffic lane, erratic driving, and failure to signal—all part of an alleged effort by Everett to prove how fast his then 11-year-old coupe could go compared to Davis’s McLaren and St-Juste’s Audi.
The suit further claims that the three called and texted one another amid the race—a race that was cut short when Everett’s car hit several trees and rolled over, hurling the defensive back from the vehicle and killing Peters.
Everett initially faced an involuntary manslaughter charge, but pleaded guilty to reckless driving and served three months’ house arrest. The Commanders released him from the team, but held on to St-Juste and Davis. The latter player faced a reckless driving charge that authorities ultimately reduced to an infraction—only for Davis to get arrested and ultimately convicted for another reckless driving incident a few months later.
