DURHAM, N.C. — A grandson of retired Duke University men’s basketball coaching legend Mike Krzyzewski is accused of driving while impaired after he collided with a 15-year-old boy who was riding an electric bicycle on Saturday, authorities said. The teen later died.
Joseph Savarino, 26, is facing a misdemeanor DWI charge after the collision, which occurred at an intersection in Durham, North Carolina, shortly after 9 p.m. ET on Saturday, WRAL reported.
According to the Durham Police Department, Savarino admitted to drinking, ESPN reported. A Breathalyzer test measured his blood-alcohol concentration at 0.11%, according to Durham County court records. The legal limit in North Carolina is 0.08%.
In a news release, police said that the teen was traveling northwest on Cole Mill Road in Durham when he entered the path of a Ford Explorer driven by Savarino moving in the same direction, WNCN reported.
According to police, “the juvenile was struck by the vehicle and pronounced deceased at the scene.”
Savarino made his first court appearance on Monday, ESPN reported. A judge revoked his driver’s license, and Savarino was released after his mother, Debbie Savarino, posted a $100,000 bond.
Debbie Savarino, who is Krzyzewski’s daughter, is an assistant athletic director at Duke.
Savarino’s brother, Michael Savarino, was charged in 2022 with DWI and sentenced to 12 months of probation, according to WRAL.
The television station reported that the victim’s mother identified the boy as Jack O’Shea. Allison O’Shea confirmed the boy’s identity in a Facebook post on Sunday.
“It is with unfathomable sadness that (my husband) and I share that our perfect, smart, athletic, fearless and handsome baby boy, Jack, passed away yesterday, April 18th, at just 15 years old,” Allison O’Shea wrote. “We are finding comfort in what was his last perfect day.
“The depth of this grief is beyond anything we could have ever imagined. This is a club no parent ever wants to be part of.”
Krzyzewski, 79, won five national championships while leading Duke from 1980 to 2022 and reached the Final Four 13 times.
He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001, and also coached the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team to three gold medals.
An investigation into the crash is ongoing, police said.
Joseph Savarino’s next court appearance is May 20, ESPN reported.