Driver in fatal South Union Twp. crash charged with murder
A Waynesburg man is charged with third-degree murder after tests showed he had drugs and nearly twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system during a March crash in South Union Township that killed a Washington woman.
Anthony Franco, 26, was also severely injured in the crash that killed his passenger, Madison Porfilio, 23, in the early morning hours of March 18.
Police said Franco was driving westbound on Route 40 when he accelerated through the intersection with Northgate Highway at a high rate of speed. According to the complaint, his vehicle left the westbound lane and hit the traffic island, rotating counterclockwise as it crossed the eastbound lane and onto the left side of the roadway.
It then collided with the pole of a Kwik Fill sign on the passenger side, ejecting Franco and Porfilio from the vehicle, court documents said.
Porfilio suffered “massive damage” to the right side of her body and died at the scene, police said. Franco was flown to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W. Va., where he was placed in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit.
In an interview with police at the hospital, Franco reportedly told police he and Porfilio had driven from Washington to make a Doordash delivery, then stopped at Ohiopyle State Park. He said they had stopped at a Sheetz on Main Street in Uniontown shortly before the crash and were heading back to Washington, the complaint said.
Franco estimated he had been driving no faster than 55 mph when he hit the traffic island, the affidavit of probable cause said. He told police his next memories were of waking up during surgery at the hospital.
Tests taken less than an hour after the crash indicated Franco had alcohol, amphetamines and marijuana in his system, the complaint said. Lab records indicated his blood-alcohol level shortly after the collision was between .149% and .157%.
Police said they also recovered alcohol containers at the scene of the crash.
In addition to the third-degree murder charge, Franco faces counts of homicide by vehicle and aggravated assault by vehicle, with the last two accompanied by more severe charges for driving under the influence. He is also charged with misdemeanors of involuntary manslaughter, driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level between 0.10% and 0.16%, and driving under the influence of a controlled substance.
Franco’s bail was set at $40,000. He was unable to pay and is lodged in the Fayette County jail.
He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Magisterial Judge Nathan Henning on Oct. 7.