Guilty Plea In Fatal 113 Crash; No Jail Time For Motorist

SNOW HILL — A Delmar man this week pleaded guilty to criminally negligent manslaughter by motor vehicle in a fatal 2012 accident on Routes 113 and was sentenced to one year in jail, which was then suspended in favor of probation and a fine.

Gerald Dean Smith, now 44, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in Worcester County Circuit Court to criminally negligent manslaughter for the December 2012 accident at Routes 113 and 12 in Snow Hill that claimed the life of Iva Jane Justice, 65, of Snow Hill. Smith was sentenced to one year in jail, which Judge Richard Bloxom suspended in favor of probation for three years, a $500 fine and 100 hours of community service.

Shortly before 3 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2012, Maryland State Police troopers responded to a fatal collision at the intersection of Routes 113 and 12. The investigation revealed a 2005 Chevy flatbed truck belonging to Lowe’s and operated by Smith was heading south on Route 12. Smith attempted to cross the intersection at Route 113 without slowing or stopping and reportedly T-boned the 2002 Ford Explorer driven by Justice. Justice was pronounced dead at the scene, while Smith was transported to PRMC for treatment.

Route 113 at Route 12 was closed for about six hours while the investigation was concluded. Smith was ultimately charged with criminally negligent manslaughter, failure to yield the right-of-way to another vehicle, failure to control speed to avoid a collision and negligent driving.

At that time, the fatal accident was the latest in a series of deadly collisions at the intersection after it re-opened following a major rehabilitation by the State Highway Administration (SHA). Since the intersection reopened in 2006, there were roughly 60 accidents reported at the intersection including multiple fatal collisions.

The frequency and severity of the accidents led Worcester County officials and area residents to implore SHA to make significant changes at the intersection, and while the requests did not exactly fall on deaf ears, change was slow in coming. SHA initially installed several “look again” signs, along with traffic calming devices such as flashing yellow caution lights and rumble strips.

When the county continued to push for more improvements, including a request for an overpass at the intersection, SHA responded by installing J-turns. The debate continued and SHA ultimately acquiesced with a full traffic signal, which was installed last year.