Charges against Jefferson City man accused in deadly crash dropped after lab results come back clean
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Cole County Prosecutor’s Office has dropped charges against a man who was accused of driving under the influence in a fatal crash after his blood sample came back clean.
Jervontaye I. Warmack was charged in November with involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and driving while intoxicated. Police said he hit a person riding an electric scooter in the 3600 block of westbound Highway 50 on Oct. 31.
The victim died and was identified as 15-year-old Antony Reyes.
Police had allegedly smelled marijuana on Warmack and said his speech was slurred, court documents in previous reporting say. Officers also described him as “giggly” when they spoke to him after the crash. The probable cause statement said Warmack failed a field sobriety test. A blood sample was taken when he was arrested.
Prosecutor Locke Thompson said the blood sample was to have more-accurate results on Warmack’s state.
“Generally those [field tests] are pretty reliable, but they’re not always 100% accurate,” Thompson said. “With us also having a deceased victim, we went ahead and asked for the blood draw as well.”
Warmack allegedly told officers he had not smoked marijuana and that he didn’t see the victim before the crash, the statement said.
Thompson said evidence an back up in the testing lab caused a delay in getting the results sooner. Nearly nine months after the incident, the results revealed Warmack was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash.
A crash reconstruction by Jefferson City Police also played into the decision. Thompson said police found the scooter rider cut across the divided median and across oncoming traffic.
“It is clear from the crash investigation that he was not at fault for the accident,” Thompson said.
Thompson said the case is closed. ABC 17 News requested a copy of the crash recronstruction.
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