Manslaughter conviction upheld in death of pedestrian

The N.C. Court of Appeals has upheld the manslaughter conviction of a Maryland drunk driver who said she was not responsible in the death of a pedestrian she struck on Marine Boulevard in 2006 because he was also intoxicated.

Stephanie Michelle Williams, 24, was sentenced to five months in prison and 36 months of supervised probation after her October 2008 jury conviction of driving while impaired and involuntary manslaughter. She appealed the verdict on the bases the state lacked evidence proving her actions directly resulted in the death of 31-year-old Marine Gunnery Sgt. John C. Eatmon.

At 1:40 a.m. on Aug. 18, 2006, Williams left a Jacksonville bar in her white 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer, headed north on Marine Boulevard, and struck Eatmon who was walking across the street.

When Jacksonville police arrived at the scene, Eatmon was laying dead, face down in the road with a blood trail approximately 50 feet long from the hood of Williams’ Trailblazer to his body.

Police observed that Williams smelled of alcohol, her eyes were bloodshot and she wore a plastic nightclub wristband. Williams told police she had only “drank two beers,” but prosecutors proved at trial that Williams had consumed five beers and three shots of liquor.

Nearly two hours after the incident, Williams’ blood alcohol concentration measured 0.16. Under North Carolina law, a person is considered legally drunk if their blood alcohol level is .08 or higher.

Eatmon was also intoxicated. His blood alcohol concentration measured 0.18 at the time of death, according to toxicology reports.

Williams contented on appeal that since Eatmon was intoxicated and attempting to cross a busy street at night in an area that was not a designated crosswalk he would have been struck even if Williams had not been inebriated.

“While Eatmon’s actions were undeniably negligent, the record does not contain evidence sufficient to allow a jury to find that Eatmon’s negligence was the sole cause of his death,” the Appeals Court ruled, adding that by Williams willfully violating the state’s drinking and driving laws she was negligent, a requirement to being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.