Raleigh crash that killed flight attendant leads to murder charge
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- Chancellor Van Oden, 37, is charged with second-degree murder in a March 21 crash.
- The car crash killed 24-year-old Reganne Johnson, a Raleigh flight attendant.
- Oden has a number of pending charges in Texas, including sexual assault of a child.
A California man was indicted this week on a charge of second-degree murder in a car crash that killed a Raleigh flight attendant last month.
Chancellor Van Oden, 37, of Moreno Valley, California, was indicted Monday and arrested Thursday on the new charge, as first reported by CBS17.
Reganne Elizabeth Johnson, 24, was killed in the March 21 crash, which took place on Capital and Highwoods boulevards about 7 p.m. Oden’s pick-up truck allegedly struck the front driver’s side of the SUV that Johnson was traveling in as it tried to turn onto Capital Boulevard, CBS17 reported.
It’s not clear if Johnson was driving or a passenger in the SUV at the time. The Raleigh Police Department did not respond to inquiries from The News & Observer by press time.
Oden was arrested at the scene after officers suspected he was impaired, court documents show. In a search warrant for Oden’s blood, an officer wrote that he appeared “slow” and “sluggish” with “droopy eyelids” and drowsiness. Police suspected he’d consumed narcotics because Oden allegedly had “pin prick pupils with little to no reaction to light,” the warrant states.
Oden allegedly refused any testing on the scene until a judge granted a search warrant for his blood, which was drawn about 10 p.m. that night, court documents show. He also allegedly gave a fake name and ID to officers at the scene.
Johnson sustained head trauma and broken bones and died three days after the crash, according to court documents and her obituary. Another woman in the vehicle suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Besides the second-degree murder charge, Oden also faces the following charges and citations in the crash:
- Felony serious injury by vehicle
- Felony death by motor vehicle
- Driving while impaired
- Driving while license revoked
- Suspended tag
- Resisting a public officer
- Unsafe tires
- Failure to reduce speed
Oden has a pending citation in Harnett County after he allegedly drove 57 mph in a 35 mph zone in Erwin with an expired registration tag in June 2025, court records show. He’s failed to appear twice in that case.
Oden is also charged with felony possession of cocaine occurring March 21 in Raleigh, though court documents don’t specify if that’s connected to the fatal crash.
Multiple charges in Texas
The wreck isn’t Oden’s first brush with the law. He was extradited to Dallas from Harnett County in May 2025 on pending charges of sexual assault of a child, possession of a controlled substance and tampering with a government school record, court records show.
Texas court records indicate the following charges remained pending against Oden as of Friday morning:
- Sexual assault of a child in a February 2020 incident
- Possession of a controlled substance in a March 2020 incident
- Forging a government instrument in February 2020
- Carrying a weapon unlicensed in February 2020
- Providing a false ID or false information in February 2020
Oden previously lived in Texas while working in the oil fields, according to court documents. It’s not clear when he moved to North Carolina or California.
Victim was a Raleigh native
Johnson, a Raleigh native and 2019 graduate of Leesville Road High School, was remembered by loved ones as a vivacious young woman with a strong sense of adventure. That passion led her to her career as a flight attendant after initially attending East Carolina University to become a teacher, according to her obituary.
“She carried herself with a quiet confidence, knowing her own worth, and surrounded herself with people who inspired her,” the obituary states. “She loved deeply and gave of herself freely, always placing great importance on how others treated the people she loved most.”
Johnson endeared herself to customers and coworkers alike during her time as a manager at the Brier Creek Chick-fil-A and cherished her close relationship with her younger sister, the obituary says.
“She brought light into every room with her smile and had a gift for making people feel welcome, valued, and cared for,” loved ones wrote.
She is survived by her sister, parents, grandparents and extended family.
This story was originally published April 10, 2026 at 11:15 AM.
