Local ties to Ohio ATV death
A Greene County woman was charged over the weekend with vehicular homicide in Ohio for driving an all-terrain vehicle into a man, killing him at an off-road riding event near St. Clairsville.
Tonya Morehead was allegedly drunk when she drove the Polaris RZR side-by-side vehicle into Mark Magazine of Republic, Fayette County, pinning him under the ATV and a trailer, Belmont County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Fry said Wednesday.
Magazine, 46, died at the scene shortly after the incident at 6:30 p.m. Saturday during the PowerLine Park Memorial Day weekend riding event, Fry said.
Morehead, 38, of 189 Creek Road, Mt. Morris, was “belligerent” when questioned by Belmont County sheriff’s deputies, Fry said, and allegedly kicked one officer in the abdomen, spit in another’s face and attempted to kick out a patrol car’s rear window. In addition to the second-degree felony charge for aggravated vehicular homicide, which carries a sentence up to eight years in jail, Morehead was also charged with two felony counts of assaulting a police officer.
A passenger in Morehead’s vehicle at the time of the crash, Shawn Cape, 53, of Hiller, Fayette County, was charged with possession of a firearm while intoxicated, Fry said. He could face additional charges.
The prosecutor said Morehead claimed Cape was “manipulating the pedals” while she was driving, causing the vehicle to lurch forward and strike Magazine.
“It was about 50 feet from the victim and all of a sudden it accelerated and pretty much went straight into him and his trailer,” Fry said.
Fry said the three people knew each other and apparently camped together during the weekend event.
Investigators are awaiting test results to determine Morehead’s blood-alcohol content at the time of the crash, although Fry said “without a doubt, alcohol was a factor.”
“There were hundreds of people around. When they drove into him, multiple people observed what happened and (sheriff’s deputies) are in the process of getting statements,” Fry said. “For whatever reason, it accelerated.”
Magazine died of blunt force trauma, Fry said. He was a firefighter with the Republic Volunteer Fire Company, according to the department’s Facebook page.
Morehead and Cape are free on bond. Morehead is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing later this month in Belmont County Court, and then Fry expects the charges to be sent to a grand jury next month to determine whether she should be indicted and face trial on the charges.