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Vehicular homicide charges filed
Published Friday, June 27, 2008
VIDALIA — A Natchez man has been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide in connection with the mid-May fatal four-car pileup on the Vidalia-Natchez bridge over the Mississippi River.
Cedric A. Hunter, 24, 6 Newman Drive, turned himself in to the Vidalia Police Wednesday morning on a bench warrant for the charges. His bond was set at $200,000
The surrender was arranged earlier this week with Hunter’s attorney, Police Chief Billy Hammers said.
Hunter was initially arrested on charges of DWI (first offense), and was released on a $696 bond.
It was that initial DWI charge that led to Hunter’s arrest Wednesday, Hammers said.
“Under Louisiana law, if you blow a DWI (in a fatal accident), you can be charged with vehicular homicide even if you aren’t faulted with the wreck,” Hammers said.
The investigation into the wreck has been hindered in part because the police had to wait until the Louisiana State Police submitted their part of the investigation to the Vidalia police.
The Vidalia police have received that report, which contained scale drawings of the accident and an opinion on who should be faulted in the wreck, but Hammers said he did not know who was faulted.
Investigator DeLayne Bush said he would not release that information at this time, and would not say if more arrests were pending.
“We’re just trying to get though this one piece at a time, and there are a lot of pieces,” Bush said. “This investigation is still ongoing, but it is going to be time consuming.”
The Vidalia police responded to the accident, in which a gray Dodge pickup, a green Chrysler four-door sedan, a silver Dodge four-door and a black Crown Victoria were involved, at 4:01 a.m., May 18.
One victim, Terrence Johnson, 20, died at the scene.
A second victim, Kelvin Keys, 22, later died at University Medical Center, in Jackson, from the injuries he received in the accident.
A third victim, whose name Bush said he would not release, was also transported to a Jackson hospital, treated and later released.
All three of those victims were reportedly in the same vehicle.
Though others were involved in the accident, they reportedly fled the scene.
The incident allegedly involved illegal racing, and all four vehicles had reportedly left Danny’s Lounge, a nightclub in Vidalia, just prior to the accident.
A fifth vehicle, a Ford Mustang, was on the bridge that morning, but was involved in a separate, single-vehicle accident just prior to the four-vehicle accident.
Comments
Posted by eyeinthesky (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 4:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
did ya'll know the deputy who wrecked his car into the new cars at Great River was driving with a suspended license and was fired from the SO
Posted by ProNatchez (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 6:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How could the S.O. not know that his license had expired? Are you sure that is true? I wonder why that did not make the news.
Back on topic. It seems this puzzle is being pieced together and hopefully we will be able to see the whole thing soon.
Posted by oldschool (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 6:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is too bizarre. The way the story reads is this guy was not the cause of the wreck but they the law is recordered he will charged with the crime. MMMMMMMMMM Well we need more information cause this is Wrong.
Posted by charliebug5865 (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 7:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
well,nothing surprises me from S.O. anymore,in this fair city where I grew up!
Posted by Swapmeet (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 7:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I understand what you are saying oldschool, but if a sober person crosses the median of an interstate avoiding a deer and hits a person who is drunk riding in their own lane, the drunk person will be charged with vehicular manslaughter if the sober person gets killed. The theory is that the drunk person should never have been on the road and if they weren't, the sober person wouldn't have hit them head on.
Posted by meluvcookies (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 8:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
In other words, you can be charged for a crime by just being at the wrong place at the wrong time? WOW! Why won't they release one of the guy's names? Is he a minor or is he a political figure's kid?
Posted by itsawounderfullife (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 9:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I wish we knew more, its unfortunate he gets all the blame when they know for a fact more were involved but fleed the scene.
Posted by realdeal1150 (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 9:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Give them time because this was a really freaky accident. The people working on this are very professional and I commend them on how they are handling it. It would be bad if they issued a statement and then new facts changed the outcome. I feel sorry for the man involved but swapmeet is right, if they were drinking they should not have been behind the wheel of a vehicle. The ones in the wrong are the ones who ran. They should come forward and tell what they know and get to the truth. Drinking and driving will always be a problem because no one thinks it can happen to them. It can and it does. As long as lounges and bars remain open after midnight the people will still be there. They aren't the whole problem because you can buy your liquor and still ride around till the wee hours of the morning but if bar owners could be held liable then maybe they would try and make sure a sober designated driver was in control of the vehicle when it left their establishment. A truly terrible situation.
Posted by overthehill60 (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 10:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is all confusing. The police must have some damaging evidence aginst the Hunter to arrest him again. If he is decent enough to turn himself in as it stated he should know who the people were that fled the scene.
If failing a DWI after a fatal wreck is a homicide why is he just now being arrested or why was he released in the first place on such a measly bond?
Now is the time to close this Danny's down! I'm sure there were people there that remember who were in the cars. I imagine some of the people were minors.
Posted by lookingout (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 10:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i dont think it is right to charge him with those charges if he wasnt at fault......was the guys that died drinking or does that matter i think the laws in this situation is messed up
Posted by snowgarden (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 11:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ok people, yes, this was a very terrible accident. It's tragic that people are now dead because of something so stupid. But let's get real here....bars shouldn't close just because someone was stupid enough to get behind the wheel drunk. And bars definately shouldn't be held liable for someone getting out on the road if they've had to much to drink. Bars are not allowed to continue serving alcohol to anyone who appears to be drunk AND they are required to keep count of how much each person gets. Can you imagine how hard that is to do? Now, if this Danny's bar isn't doing these things, then yes, Alcohol Beverage and Tobacco Control needs to step in. I agree that the matter is being investigated appropriately and I'm sure that the bar and those that were present that night are being questioned very thoroughly. I just hope that the right person is brought to justice. And as a side note....maybe this is a wake up call for party-goers in the area. Get a DD or learn to stop drinking WELL before it's time to go home.
Posted by jack (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 1:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
pronatchez you are so stupid, if this sheriff deputy is fired for not having a lic or a susp lic good do you expect the sheriff dept to run every employee every morning to see if their lic is expired. give me a break man. sounds like if it is true he is fired, that the right decision was made to fire him. i remember the article said when he had the wreck that a investigation was being done, sounds like that is what happened here. good for the sheriff office to police their own and correct problems when they occur.
Posted by momof4 (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 1:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
what good is it to have a Designated Driver if that person starts drinking (after you've already had a few too many and don't really care at this point cause you are WASTED) and the bar doesn't do anything to stop them when you leave KNOWING that person and yourself is WAY too drunk to be on the road?
Shutting down a bar is not really the answer.. because you can always go through your local drive thru and pick up some alcohol, to your gas station for that matter, grocery store, etc... and get what you want......
In other words... it's time to stop playing the blame game and own up when you've screwed up. Or better yet... don't screw up!!! If I can (passenger in a one car drunk driving accident)... trust me.. others can too!
I do not blame ANYone but myself for doing what I did... and trust me.. I suffer from it daily. GROW UP PEOPLE!!! Use your mistakes to show others what NOT to do... don't walk around saying "see what so and so did to me... poor me!!"
Posted by andy (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 1:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
COME ON FOLKS THIS IS NOT ABOUT A DEPUTY WITH OUT A DRIVERS LICENSE THE LICENSE COULD HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED YESTERDAY FOR ALL WE KNOW. THIS SOUNDS LIKE A PERSONNEL ISSUE FOR THE SHERIFF NOT YOU STUPID PEOPLE GUESSING HERE AND I CANNOT BELIEVE THE ND IS LETTING THIS GO ON TODAY THEY KNOW EMPLOYEES DO NOT DISCUSS PERSONNEL ISSUES WITH ANYONE, MUCH LESS ON A BLOUG
Posted by fire39212 (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 7:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
No matter if they were suspended yesterday still against the law to drive he should know that.....Did he get a ticket for driving with suspended lic? Is he going to have to pay for the damages?
The others that left the scene of the accident were they drinking? Were the ones that got killed drinking? Was he the only guy that was drinking or was he the only decent one that stuck around....
Posted by oldschool (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 9:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A Michigan man was sentenced to 43 years in prison Friday for driving the wrong way on an interstate and slamming his pickup truck into a minivan, killing a Maryland mother and four children who were returning home from a Christmas trip.
Michael Gagnon of Adrian, Mich., had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit and marijuana in his system, authorities said.
now this is justifiable! but when you have nothing to do with the wreck? just a bystander from what we have been told. We just need more information
Posted by ProNatchez (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 10:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Jack. You say I am "so stupid" for asking if the accusations that eyeinthesky made are true? He posted it in every blog on this site and that made it sound like a personal issue to me. I have a right to be a little skeptical about that. I don't know who he is, so I don't know how reliable his information is.
If he was driving a police car with an expired license, then yes, he should have been fired. Where is the story about it?
You have a personal issue with me? Let's hear it. I'm all ears.
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