The owner of a dump truck involved in a fatal August 2022 crash in Lower Providence Township entered an open guilty plea on Wednesday to a felony charge of homicide by vehicle, according to reporting by Carl Hessler Jr. at Mainline Media News.
Patrick Doran, 24, of Gaithersburg, Md., pleaded guilty Wednesday morning ahead of jury selection for his scheduled trial. Common Pleas Judge Risa Ferman deferred sentencing to provide time for a pre-sentencing investigation into Doran’s background, the report states.
The charges stemmed from a fatal crash that occurred during the afternoon of Aug. 25, 2022, along the 500 block of South Park Ave. The victim of the head-on crash, identified as 31-year-old Kellie Adams, was pronounced dead at the scene, along with her unborn daughter, Emersyn Grace Adams, who was later delivered stillborn.
Adams, a North Penn High School Class of 2009 grad and mother of two boys, was the daughter of longtime Lansdale Borough Police Sergeant and former Towamencin Fire Chief Dean Miller.
“So sorry for this happening. It’s a bad situation. I really am sorry,” Doran said, at times wiping away tears, according to Hessler’s report.
An open guilty plea means there is no sentencing agreement between Doran and prosecutors, with the latter indicating they are seeking a state prison sentence for Doran. According to the statute, Doran faces 3½ to 7 years in state prison, however sentencing guidelines allow Judge Ferman to render a lesser sentence.
Doran, who is an Irish national, will face deportation following the completion of his sentence, according to the report.
First responders were dispatched to the scene for a report of a two-vehicle crash. Arriving police found a head-on crash had occurred between a 2021 Chevy Tahoe, driven by Adams, and a 2003 Ford F650 XLT Super Duty dump truck, driven by 56-year-old Everett Clayton, of Charleston, W. Va.
Clayton, who was uninjured, allegedly confessed he had been drinking beers, and blood testing later showed he had a blood-alcohol content of .076% — just under the legal limit of .08%, investigators said.
According to the criminal complaint, crash scene investigators determined Clayton was traveling in excess of the speed limit as he approached a curve in the road, causing him to lose control and cross over the double-yellow lines. The dump truck collided with the Tahoe with such force that the Tahoe lost all forward momentum and the dump-body portion of the truck detached and fell off, police said.
Clayton was initially charged in October 2022 with homicide by vehicle along with additional charges of careless driving/unintentional death, reckless driving, driving at unsafe speed and related offenses. However, the charges were upgraded to third-degree murder of Adams and third-degree murder of an unborn child after investigators alleged that Clayton “exhibited sustained recklessness over a period of time leading up to the fatal crash,” which meets the standards for third-degree murder charges.
Investigators said Doran had purchased the vehicle on July 6, 2022, under a fake name and never had the vehicle registered, inspected, or insured as required by state law. Additionally, the truck was being operated by “Stellar Paving and Drainage” with a listed address as 1960 Butler Pike in Conshohocken, which actually turned out to be a PO Box at a UPS store that was also rented by Doran under the same fake name, according to charging documents.
Doran was also initially charged in October 2022 with homicide by vehicle, along with additional charges of permitting violation of title, operating vehicle without required financial responsibility, operating vehicle without valid inspection, and multiple other offenses. Doran was located in February in Fairfax County, Va., and was extradited to Montgomery County on charges of homicide by vehicle and related offenses.
Court records show Clayton is awaiting trial in October on the existing charges.
See also:
Dump Truck Owner Located, Arrested in Connection with Crash that Killed Pregnant Lansdale Woman
Murder Charges Filed Against Dump Truck Driver in Death of Pregnant Lansdale Woman
Dump Truck Driver, Owner Charged in Death of Pregnant Lansdale Woman
Lansdale Woman ID’d as Victim of Fatal Crash in Lower Providence
