Cheat Lake man charged in deaths of five people
A Cheat Lake, W.Va., man accused of driving under the influence of alcohol in an accident that resulted in the deaths of five people in Monongalia County, W.Va., is currently awaiting trial for unrelated drunken driving charges in Fayette County. Brian John Stone, who also maintains a mailing address in Gans, was charged Monday with five counts of driving under the influence of alcohol causing death and a single count of subsequent DUI after the three-vehicle collision at 10:20 p.m. Sunday on Interstate 68, police said.
According to police, Donnell Perry, 52, and daughters Jentil Jones Perry, 15, and Jacquesha Jones Perry, 13 were killed in the collision. Also killed were Courtney B. Evans, 31, and Sawyer A. Evans, 12, both of Baltimore, Md.
Seven other people were injured, police said.
Stone, 32, was charged March 15 before Magisterial District Judge Randy S. Abraham with two charges related to DUI and was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond after waiving all charges against him to court.
He is currently scheduled for pretrial conference July 30 before Fayette County Judge Ralph C. Warman.
Attorney Samuel J. Davis is representing Stone in the matter in Fayette County Court.
Police said the head-on collision Sunday occurred when Stone, traveling eastbound in a 2007 Ford pickup truck, struck the Evans’ vehicle from behind, forcing it across the median where it collided with the vehicle driven by Donnell Perry.
Police said they found Stone in a wooded area near the crash site. He was not injured, police said.
Stone is being held in a West Virginia prison on $1.35 million bond.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday on the charges stemming from the fatal accident.