‘I could tell she was drunk’
Pictured is the car driven by Sierra Minor, 16, who was fatally injured in a wreck on Brush Run Road in Independence Township July 30, 2013.
Sierra Minor
A Claysville man accused of supplying a Morris Township 16-year-old with alcohol and giving her the keys to his car minutes before she crashed it into a tree and died was ordered to stand trial Tuesday.
Charles Lester Cole III, 22, of 783 Old National Pike, was held by District Judge Ethan Ward on charges of involuntary manslaughter, four counts of reckless endangerment and furnishing alcohol to minors and three counts of purchasing alcohol for minors in the July 30, 2013, crash that killed Sierra Minor.
She was driving on Brush Run Road (state Route 331) in Independence Township, about a mile from the West Virginia line when the car failed to negotiate a curve, went off the road and hit a tree. State police estimated she was driving 50 to 60 mph on the straightaway before reaching the curve.
Trooper Thomas Schuster, who filed the charges against Cole, said Minor was pronounced dead at the scene. Schuster said her blood-alcohol content was 0.20 percent and she had marijuana in her system. Blood tests revealed her BAC was 10 times the 0.02 percent limit presumed for intoxication in anyone under the age of 21.
Schuster testified Cole purchased six bottles of a flavored malt liquor at a six-pack store on Jefferson Avenue in Washington before he and the occupants of his car drove to an area known as the German Beer Gardens in Brooke County, W.Va.
Occupants of Cole’s 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue included Minor, Minor’s cousin, Rashaia Day, and friend Melinda Paul, who were both 15 years old at the time, along with 18-year-old Cody Jenkins. Day sat on Jenkins’ lap in the front seat while Cole and Paul were in the back seat.
Cole told Schuster he was the only one drinking, but Paul, who since moved to New York, told the trooper they were drinking on the way to West Virginia.
Cole also said he and Paul were swimming and the others started a fire. He told Schuster he didn’t know what happened while the others were at the fire. He also told the trooper he gave Minor his own version of a field-sobriety check before giving her the keys to his car.
Day, who testified she was not drinking that night, said her cousin and Jenkins drank while they sat in the car as Cole and Paul were swimming. She said Minor did not use marijuana while she was with her that night, nor did anyone else. A suspected marijuana pipe was found in Minor’s clothing at the time of her autopsy.
Day said tequila was also in the car, but she did not see anyone drink it. She denied seeing a bottle of vodka in the car.
While Cole and Paul were swimming, Day said she and Jenkins were passengers while Minor drove the car a short distance before hitting a mailbox. She said Minor then drove back to the beer garden.
Day said she offered to drive because she was concerned the others were intoxicated.
“I was supposed to drive because I was the only sober one. I even sat in the driver’s seat,” Day testified. “Sierra asked (Cole) to let her drive, and he gave her the keys. I told him that I just saw her hit a mailbox. He had her stand up straight to see if she was drunk. I could tell she was drunk.”
Defense attorney Christopher Blackwell argued the manslaughter and endangerment charges should be dismissed, saying there was no direct evidence his client had any direct result in her death. Blackwell questioned why Minor was so intoxicated after only drinking two beers and when she had smoked marijuana, since no one claimed to have had any that night.
Assistant District Attorney Josh Carroll countered the others tried to dissuade him from giving her they keys, but he gave her them any way.
The last few months have been rough for the family of Sierra Minor. Traci Gareis said she was 23 years old when her younger sister was born on Halloween. She would have turned 18 this Friday.
Another sister, Terri Knox, dabbed tears from her eyes after the hearing.
“She had so many friends,” Knox said, adding her younger sister had been living with her. “She was always looking out for others. She probably thought she could handle it. But, unfortunately, look what happened.
“She was the most beautiful baby,” Gareis said after the hearing. “It is sad for everyone. Hearing details have been tough, but we have each other.”
Gareis said she supports the charges filed against Cole.
“It is against the law to supply alcohol to minors,” she added.
Cole is free on $25,000 unsecured bond set Tuesday by Ward.