A 31-year-old man appeared in court late last month to face drunk driving charges related to the car accident death of an 18-year-old woman. The man was traveling eastbound when he lost control of his vehicle, it crossed the centerline and he crashed head-on into the young woman’s sport utility vehicle.
Following the fatal crash, police charged the 31-year-old driver with involuntary manslaughter, felony hit and run resulting in death, maiming as a result of drunk driving, driving with a suspended license and drunk driving first-offense.
After the fatal collision, the man tried to flee the scene on foot. He escaped to a nearby barn, where police found him hiding after the incident. It’s not uncommon for drivers who cause a fatal crash to run away from the scene. Whether the driver in this case did that to escape police, or whether he was merely ashamed and trying to get away from the awful reality of what happened remains unknown.
The deceased young woman was not the only victim of this crash. The teenager had a passenger, who was lucky to survive the accident, but not without critical injuries. As of last reports, she was still recovering from those injuries. There was one other injured victim in the crash, who may have been riding with the DUI driver.
As community members recover from the aftermath of this unfortunate event, relatives of the teenager who died may wish to seek money to pay for damages. Depending on the facts surrounding a fatal DUI crash, close family members of the deceased may be able to seek wrongful death damages in court to pay for end of life expenses, funeral costs and other damages relating to their loved one’s loss.
Source: wtkr.com, “Driver accused of killing Chesapeake teen in DUI crash makes first court appearance,” Merris Badcock, May 22, 2017