GILMER/UPSHUR COUNTY (KYTX) - Upshur County District Judge Lauren Parish on Friday sentenced a 20-year-old Gilmer man to 10 years' deferred adjudication, or probation, after he pled guilty to manslaughter.
Benjamin Lee Powers was indicted in February on manslaughter charges after a Dec. 30 truck wreck that killed his passenger, 18-year-old Caderrius Deshaw Green, of Gilmer.
Green
died when a westbound Ford F-250 pickup driven by Powers overturned
several times on Farm-to-Market Road 49 about one mile west of Gilmer,
ejecting Green from the vehicle, authorities said. Powers and another
passenger, 17-year-old Cody Garcia of Gilmer, escaped injury, said
investigating Department of Public Safety Trooper Brandon Love.
Originally posted Feb. 9, 2012
GILMER (TYLER MORNING TELEGRAPH) - An Upshur County Grand Jury Wednesday
indicted a 19-year-old Gilmer man on manslaughter charges stemming from
a Dec. 30 truck accident that killed his 18-year-old male passenger.
Benjamin
Lee Powers was originally charged with felony criminally negligent
homicide in the death of Caderrius Deshaw Green of Gilmer, but the
charge was upgraded to manslaughter "based on evidence the investigation
showed," Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd said today.
Green
died when a westbound Ford F-250 pickup driven by Powers overturned
several times on Farm-to-Market Road 49 about one mile west of Gilmer,
ejecting Green from the vehicle, authorities said. Powers and another
passenger, 17-year-old Cody Garcia of Gilmer, escaped injury, said
investigating Department of Public Safety Trooper Brandon Love.
The
indictment charges Powers was "passing a motor vehicle in a no-passing
zone on the crest of a hill" and exceeding the speed limit, causing the
pickup to leave the roadway, overturn multiple times, and eject Green,
said Byrd.
The
district attorney said he could not comment on whether drugs or alcohol
were involved in the accident. However, that isn't alleged in the
indictment, he said.
Powers
is free on a $20,000 bond under "pre-trial supervision," banning him
from driving, requiring he report to a probation officer weekly, and
stipulating he undergo random drug tests, Byrd said.
The
initial charge against him carried a punishment range of six months to
two years in state jail. But upgrading the charge to manslaughter, which
is "reckless causing of the death" rather than mere negligence, puts
the punishment range at two to 20 years in prison, Byrd said.
He said the DPS did an accident reconstruction of the incident.
The
crash, reported at 8:27 p.m., occurred when the truck passed a car atop
a hill, ran off the left side of the roadway into a ditch, was
overcorrected, and rolled several times, landing on its top, Love said
at the time.
None
of the pickup's three occupants were wearing seat belts, the trooper
said. The victim was sitting in the back seat behind Powers, while
Garcia was a front-seat passenger, Love said.
Upshur County Justice of the Peace W.V. Ray said he pronounced the victim dead at the scene at 9 p.m.
