Teenage son of Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery identified as driver in crash that killed National Guard soldier
The teenage son of Iowa Men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery was identified as the driver who fatally struck a National Guardsman who was jogging across a street two months ago.
Jonathan Jack McCaffery, 16, and was driving his grey 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe from school on May 22 when he struck Iowa Army National Guard Sgt. First Class Corey Hite shortly after 4 p.m. about a mile and a half west of Iowa City West High School, according to the criminal complaint viewed by The Post.
The crash left Hite, a 27-year veteran of the National Guard, with life-threatening injuries including a pelvis fracture, multiple skull fractures, and holes in his lung and kidney.
A GoFundMe set up to help Hite’s family pay for medical expenses said the 27-year veteran of the National Guard was three weeks away from retiring.
Hite succumbed to his injuries on June 4.
Jonathan McCaffery was issued a citation for a misdemeanor traffic violation resulting in death on Monday, according to the criminal complaint.
“Following a thorough investigation, and after consultation with the Johnson County Attorney’s Office, the driver of the vehicle that struck Hite, Jonathan J.F. McCaffery, 16, of North Liberty, has been cited with Failure to Yield to a Pedestrian in a Crosswalk, a simple misdemeanor,” the statement read.
The misdemeanor violation that resulted in death is punishable with a $1,000 fine and/or the suspension of a driver’s license for up to 180 days, according to Iowa state code.
In a statement released by their attorney, Joseph T. Moreland, Fran and Margaret McCaffery confirmed their youngest son was involved in the crash but were told it was unavoidable because another driver had waved Hite in front of the car.
“On May 22nd, just after leaving school, our 16-year-old son was the driver in a vehicle/pedestrian accident. Investigators have told us that it was an unavoidable accident with no evidence to suggest distracted driving. The pedestrian, who was jogging at the time of the accident, was waved in front of our son’s passing vehicle by the driver of another vehicle. The jogger, Sgt. First Class Corey Hite, passed away two weeks after the accident from the injuries he sustained,” the statement read.
“We are devastated by this tragedy. SFC Hite’s family has our deepest sympathies. While our family continues to process the events of the past weeks and help our son cope with this accident, we will have no further comment at this time,” the McCaffery family concluded.
Fran McCaffery has been the head coach for the Hawkeyes since 2010 leading the team to the NCAA tournament the each of the last four eligible years and winning the Big 10 title in 2022.
The Hawkeyes finished the 2022-2023 season with a 19-14 record, and were the 8 seed in the March Madness tournament, losing to number 9 Auburn in the round of 64.
