Teen second to die after high-speed Smithfield DWI crash
LOCAL NEWS
Teen second to die after high-speed Smithfield DWI crash
Posted 11:53 a.m. yesterday
Updated 7:16 p.m. yesterday
By Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter
SMITHFIELD, N.C. — One of three teens injured in a Sunday night crash in Smithfield has died, police said Tuesday.
Ethan Michael Handly, 15, of Smithfield, was riding in a Dodge minivan that was rammed from behind by a Toyota sedan at the intersection of Wilsons Mills Road and M. Durwood Stephenson Highway, police said.
https://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/news...ly-640x360.jpg
The driver of the minivan, Marjory Howell Wagner Regan, 65, of Selma, died at the scene.
Two other teens, 15-year-old Hailey Wagner and 14-year-old Stephen Wagner, remain hospitalized at WakeMed in Raleigh.
https://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/news...by-640x360.jpg
Regan, who was the grandmother of the two Wagner teens, was driving them and Handly home after dinner and a movie in Princeton when the crash occurred, according to Cyndi Joyner, whose 13-year-old daughter was with the group but had been dropped back home before the crash.
"It’s really hard, actually, to think about the possibilities that could have been," Joyner said Tuesday. "It's human nature, and you can’t help but think about what ifs. I’m just so thankful that, what if God saw a different path for my child."
https://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/news...ka-640x360.jpg
The driver of the Toyota, Felix Antonio Juarez-Antunez, 34, of 1519 Barbour Road in Smithfield, has been charged with two counts each of felony death by vehicle and felony serious injury by vehicle.
According to a police report, the Toyota was traveling at 110 mph in a 45-mph zone when Juarez-Antunez tried to brake. Investigators measured 117 feet of skid marks before the car, still going 90 mph, slammed into the back of the minivan, which was stopped at a red light. The force of the impact shoved the van more than 87 feet through the intersection after the crash, according to the police report.
"It Is definitely a tragedy for both families. It’s a tragedy all the way around for everyone involved," Smithfield Police Chief Keith Powell said.
Handly was a freshman at Cleveland High School, and his family has already been through tragedy this year: His father died of cancer six months ago, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help the family with medical bills.
https://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/news...ep-640x360.jpg
"Ethan was an amazing young man who is missed terribly by his family and friends," his mother, Marilee Patterson, said in a statement. "We have been amazed by the outpouring of support from the community as we confront this tragedy.
"We are proud that Ethan is an organ donor and will be saving multiple lives," Patterson added.
Juarez-Antunez appeared in a Johnston County courtroom on Tuesday morning with his arm in a sling because of injuries he suffered in the crash.
A prosecutor read each charge against him and said that impaired driving was the reason for the crash, but it was clear that Juarez-Antunez didn’t understand the nature of the hearing, as the judge had to tell him to keep quiet several times.
"If they want to inject me so I can die, I don’t care. I’m not afraid of dying," he told the judge through an interpreter.
But the judge told him his case isn't a death penalty case and again instructed him not to speak without an attorney.
"I am angry. There’s no reason for this. There’s absolutely no reason whatsoever why anyone should have to face the consequences of a drunk driver," Joyner said. "He made a very selfish move when he got behind the wheel of that car. Families have lost their loved ones, parents have lost their children."
Juarez-Antunez remains in the Johnston County jail under $350,000 bond, and police said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed an immigration detainer on him, saying he is in the country illegally and faces deportation.
https://www.wral.com/teen-second-to-...rash/18761298/
