An act of mass vandalism, tragic deaths and a large award by a jury in a wrongful death suit all involving vehicles — a key component of many of 2018’s biggest stories on the cops and courts beat. Monongalia County also had its first murder since 2016 in 2018.
Tragic collisions
Leah Berhanu, a 21-year-old WVU engineering student, was struck and killed by then WVU student Michelle Gelada, 21, of New York, while crossing the intersection of Morrill Way and Patteson Drive about 6:30 p.m. Feb. 1.
Gelada was arrested and charged by the Morgantown Police Department with negligent homicide, a misdemeanor, on Feb. 28 after an investigation revealed she struck Berhanu with her 2000 Ford Explorer while running a red light.
The two-day trial began in Monongalia County Magistrate Court on Nov. 9 before Magistrate Sandy Holepit. Gelada’s attorney, David Grunau, argued the accident was just that, a tragic accident. After about an hour-and-a-half of deliberating, the jury agreed with him and found Gelada not guilty.
Berhanu’s family started a scholarship in her honor, The Leah Berhanu Financial Rescue Scholarship. The scholarship is intended to help promote access for women who want to be engineers, a demographic that makes up just 14 percent of the industry’s work force.
Divanté Coles, 20, of Morgantown, was also killed by a vehicle. Ladon Garrett, 39, of Maryland, allegedly hit Coles as he was biking home from his job at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, on Earl L. Core Road, about 11:15 p.m. July 6. Coles died from his injuries just before 6 a.m. the next morning.
Garrett was indicted for leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, commonly known as Erin’s Law, after he allegedly struck Divanté Coles with his car.
Erin’s Law requires a driver who hits a person to stop and render aid. If convicted, Garrett faces one to five years in a state prison or a fine of not more than $5,000 and one to five years in prison.
The case is still pending.
Sears’ civil suit settled
Carli Sears, a Charleston native, was killed on Stewart Street on Jan. 17, 2016, by Alexander Hambrick, a then 19-year-old drunk driver. Hambrick pleaded guilty in December 2016 to DUI with death and leaving the scene of an accident involving death. He served 10 months in the Anthony Center, a correctional facility for youthful offenders, six months of home confinement and is on probation for seven years.
In November 2018, a civil suit filed by Sears’ father, Brent, went to trial before Judge Phillip Gaujot in Monongalia County Circuit Court.
Following the three-day trial, jurors only took about an hour-and-a-half to decide the Sears family was entitled to about $7.6 million in damages.
The jury asked if there was an upper limit to the amount of money they could give to compensate the Sears family for their sorrow and mental anguish over the loss of a sister and daughter. They were told as long as the number was justifiable and reasonable based on the evidence heard, they were the sole deciders.
Jurors decided $3 million was an appropriate amount. A further $2.4 million in compensation for wages Sears would have likely earned over her life and $500,000 for both her pain and suffering from the time of the accident until her death about six hours later and lost household services — basic household chores that if we don’t do, someone needs to be paid to do.
Medical and funeral damages were both awarded, but the jury did not have to decide on those. Gaujot granted a motion of directed verdict, which mandated Hambrick’s responsibility for those costs, $42,890,89 in total.
Punitive damages were awarded in the amount of $1,250,000. Punitive damages are designed to punish and prevent future wrong-doing of a similar nature, said Tom Peyton, who represented the Sears family.
Vehicles vandalized
In late October, vehicles grabbed headlines again when 33 or 34 vehicles had windows broken in WVU’s lot 200, near the College of Law.
WVU Police Chief W.P. Chedester said he believes it was primarily an act of vandalism. He said the affected cars were all parked near each other in the middle of the lot and there was no discernible pattern with regards to makes or models of the vandalized cars.
“Having that many cars broken into at once in the same area is unusual,” Chedester said.
As of Dec. 13, no arrest has been made in the case, WVU spokeswoman April Kaull said.
Area 200 is a paid lot which costs $366 a year, according to WVU’s transportation and parking website. The lot has 285 spaces, Kaull said.
Area 200 does not have cameras directly monitoring it, but there are cameras in the general area, Kaull said. Following the incident, police placed a temporary camera in the lot, and as of Dec. 13, the camera was still there, Kaull said. She said a permanent solution is being worked on, and plans have not been finalized.
Murder
Timothy Pahl, 67, was shot and killed during a burglary at his home on Old Stewartstown Road on April 22.
Elizabeth Ann Chinn, 32, of South Point, Ohio, was arrested April 25 and charged with first-degree murder for his death.
Witnesses told investigators that Chinn confessed to shooting Pahl, a press release stated. Additionally, evidence discovered during the investigation and statements by Chinn to law enforcement match the witness statements that Pahl confronted her while she was robbing his home, so she shot and killed him.
Glenn Richard Weaver, 25, of Morgantown; Moriah Lari Weaver, 42, of Fairmont; and Elizabeth Victoria Hartley, 34, of Grafton, were arrested with Chinn at the Mohegan Sun Casino, in Plains Township, Pa., by the Pennsylvania State Police.
The three also face criminal charges related to the burglary, but only Chinn was charged with murder.
Chinn was booked into North Central Regional Jail on Oct. 26 and is being held there without bond.
It’s likely her case will be presented to the January 2019 grand jury.
Morgantown Area News
'Thursday, April 18, 2024'
