Stone is on trial in Effingham for vehicular homicide
The defense argued today that Robert Patrick Stone lost control of his vehicle because a passenger was “acting up.”
The passenger, William Neal Morgan, was one of two people who died in a wreck on June 27, 2010. Stone, 21, is on trial in Effingham County Superior Court on two counts of homicide by vehicle.
Testimony this morning indicated that Stone had no alcohol or drugs in his system when the wreck occurred, on Stilwell-Clyo Road, at about 3 a.m. on a Sunday.
A state trooper testified that Stone told him Morgan jerked the vehicle’s steering wheel. But the trooper said one of the passengers who was injured in the wreck told him that Stone was the one who jerked the wheel back and forth before the crash.
Testimony continues this afternoon in the trial that’s being heard by Judge John R. Turner.
Stone also is charged with three counts of serious injury by vehicle, reckless driving and weaving over roadway.
According to police reports, Stone was driving a 2000 Chevrolet Tracker northbound on Stillwell-Clyo Road, with five passengers. Stone was 18 years old at the time.
Stone lost control and the vehicle flipped several times. All six people were ejected from the vehicle.
Whitney Jade Newman, 17, died at the scene and William Neal Morgan, 17, died in a hospital three days later, from injuries he suffered in the wreck.
Lindsay Morgan Buchanan, 17, suffered a broken nose and serious abrasions to her upper arms and chest. Kristin M. Westenbarger, 16, suffered deep abrasions on her right shoulder and hand. Amanda Kathleen Duff, 16, suffered heavy abrasions to her upper extremities.
Return to effinghamnow.com later for more about today’s testimony.