Truck Driver Sentenced to Decades in Prison for Crash that Killed Pregnant Lansdale Woman

Tony Di Domizio | North Penn Now•

Everett James Clayton, 57, of West Virginia.

A West Virginia man was sentenced to decades in prison on Friday in Montgomery County Court, in connection with the August 2022 deaths of a pregnant Lansdale woman and her unborn child.

According to The Reporter, Everett James Clayton, 57, of Charleston, W. Va., was given two consecutive prison terms of 12 ½ to 25 years as part of his sentencing, with each sentence representing one of the victims in the fatal crash on Park Avenue in Lower Providence Township — 31-year-old Kellie Adams, and her unborn daughter, Emersyn Grace Adams.

They were the wife and daughter of Jason Adams, who is now a single parent raising two sons aged 4 and 7. Adams, a firefighter, responded to the scene of his wife’s crash and saw the aftermath, per the report.

"You took the life of my best friend, my rock and my world,” Adams told Clayton during the sentencing.

Last year, Clayton was convicted of the two charges in a jury trial. It was determined Clayton "showed an extreme indifference to the value of human life while driving unlicensed, speeding and having alcohol in his system.”

The 18,000-pound Ford F650 XLT Super Duty dump truck he was driving was uninspected, uninsured, unregistered and not titled, per the report. Investigators determined Clayton was driving in excess of 58 mph in a 25-mph zone when he crashed into Adams’ 2021 Chevy Tahoe in a curve in the road.

Per testimony, Clayton’s blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash was just below the 0.08% legal limit for driving, and thus was not charged with DUI. He was uninjured in the crash.

Clayton did not testify at his trial, per the report.

He did, however, speak at his sentencing, telling her family, which included Kellie’s father, former Lansdale Police Sgt. Dean Miller, that he regrets and hates what happened.

"I caused so much grief to this family,” Clayton said before his punishment was handed down, according to The Reporter. "I am sorry, and I wish I could turn back the hands of time. To me, living with the guilt for the rest of my life is worse than a death sentence.”

Miller told the packed courtroom that the weight of the tragedy remains unbearable, and that they were robbed of the warmth of a smile and the beauty of her laughter.

"Kellie’s selflessness was boundless. She touched countless lives. The depth of our grief will have no end. It’s a black hole,” Miller said.

The owner of the dump truck that Clayton was driving was sentenced earlier this year to 3 ½ to 7 years in prison on a felony charge of homicide by vehicle. Patrick Doran, aka Jacob Fury, 24, an Irish national of Gaithersburg, Md., pleaded guilty in June 2023.

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.