Manslaughter trial after Oak Lee Drive crash to begin in 2022 | Journal-News

CHARLES TOWN – Just over two years after the April 10, 2022, accident that killed Washington High School senior Alana Williams, Eugene Wesley Weatherholt’s trial for involuntary manslaughter began in Jefferson County District Court.

In December 2022, charges were filed against Weatherholt, stating that “on or about April 10, 2022, in Jefferson County, West Virginia, he unlawfully, but not criminally, operated a vehicle with reckless disregard for the safety of others, and that as a result of the injury sustained by operating the vehicle, Eugene Wesley Weatherholt caused the death of Alana G. Williams…”

The state was represented in the case by Assistant District Attorney Neil J. Zahradnik, who told the jury of five men and seven women that Williams’ tragic death was a “car accident that could have been avoided.”

Zahradnik claimed in his opening remarks that Weatherholt ran a light that had changed from green to yellow and then to red, striking Williams’ 2004 Toyota Rav 4 and his 2008 Ford F350 pickup truck, as well as colliding with a red Honda Element driven by Howard Low of Shepherdstown. Zahradnik also noted that testimony would come from other motorists involved in the crash, law enforcement officials, including two accident reconstructionists, and Dr. Elizabeth Rouse, the medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Williams.

Defense attorney Kirk Botner told jurors in his opening statements that he was confident that when the case was presented there would be reasonable doubts that would lead to an acquittal. Botner explained that no one noticed Weatherholt’s erratic driving and that, in fact, no one witnessed the accident.

“I am convinced that the state cannot prove that Mr. Weatherholt ran a red light,” Botner said, also suggesting that it is possible that Williams’ death was due to the deployment of the airbag in her vehicle.

He stated that she was in the “danger zone” of the airbag being deployed because she was not wearing a seatbelt at the time.

“The key word is reckless,” Botner said, stressing to the jury that in order to be reckless, one must be conscious of the decision to be reckless, and there was no evidence of that in this case.

Rouse was the first witness called to testify. She gave a brief overview of her autopsy findings. She stated that Williams’ external injuries were relatively minor. In fact, she found only a few bruises: one on her left arm, one on her left hand, one on her left knee and one on her left shin. Internally, there was a slight bruise on the inside of her scalp, Rouse said.

Rouse further testified that Williams suffered an atlanto-occipital dislocation, a separation of the skull from the first cervical vertebra, also known as internal decapitation.

Rouse determined the cause and manner of death to be blunt force trauma caused by an accident.

Zahradnik questioned Rouse about the possibility that the death could have been caused by an airbag, but the doctor explained that in her experience, this type of injury is not caused by contact with an airbag, even if the person is not wearing a seat belt.

“I have seen no evidence of improper airbag deployment in this case,” Rouse said.

When Rouse was cross-examined, she responded to Botner’s question about whether a person could suffer such an injury from an airbag. Rouse said it was theoretically possible, but she saw no evidence to support it.

Williams’ father, Michael Williams, took the stand briefly to explain when he last saw his daughter and where she went when she left home. He was followed by Barbara Hawkins, a motorist who was at the scene of the crash and testified that she heard but did not see the impact.

Hawkins was in the left-turn lane of Route 9 at the time, about to turn onto Oak Lee Drive toward McDonald’s and Five Guys. She said she saw the truck driven by Weatherholt and noticed it specifically because it was similar in size to the truck she was driving, which was a larger than normal vehicle for her.

Hawkins, who was moved to tears several times on the witness stand, recounted that she had exited her vehicle to assist the victims at the scene of the accident. She said that a medical professional was performing CPR on the female victim (Williams) and that she had asked Weatherholt, who had exited his vehicle, if he was injured.

“He kept repeating, ‘I thought the light was yellow,’ and asked, ‘Is she going to be OK?'” Hawkins testified.

Hawkins further testified that she did not notice Weatherholt’s reckless driving.

Also testifying Tuesday was Low, the driver of a 2006 Honda Element that was struck in the crash. Low said he and his wife were leaving Panera and were in the turning lane to head east on Route 9 when they were struck in the front left side of their vehicle.

“There was no warning, no screeching of tires or honking,” Low said.

He further said his first priority was to take care of his wife, whom he took out of the vehicle and walked to a safe location off the road. He told the court he took photos of his vehicle and the other two vehicles, an SUV and the white pickup truck, because he knew he would need them for his insurance.

In his initial statement to police at the scene, Low stated that the SUV (driven by Williams) struck his car, was thrown back, and struck the pickup truck. He later stated that he changed his mind after reading police reports. He said that the pickup truck struck the Toyota first, and then the Toyota struck his vehicle.

When Botner asked him if he had changed his mind after reading the police report, Low replied yes, because everything at the crime scene was confusing, but the report provided physical evidence that showed what he thought had happened.

Deanna Low was the last witness to testify on Tuesday, admitting that she had never made a statement to law enforcement until two months ago.

“I was not asked to give evidence,” she said in court.

She stated that she heard two loud collisions, the first and the other in which her vehicle was hit.

“I didn’t see her get hit, but I believe she got hit and then hit us,” she said.

Prosecutors will call more witnesses today as the case continues. Cpl. Chuck Lynch of the Ranson Police Department is expected to take the stand, as are Cpl. Adam Watson of Ranson’s department and Lt. Robert Sell of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department. Both Watson and Sell are trained in accident reconstruction.

It was not clear how many witnesses the defense would call or who those witnesses might be. Judge David Hammer presided over the case and indicated he expected closing arguments to begin Thursday morning as the case now enters its third day of trial.