Trooper testifies in case of crash that killed 3 Marine recruits

WARREN

It was evident that something was wrong with Donald P. Williams Jr. as he lay in a hospital bed after being involved in a traffic accident just west of here that killed three Marine Corp recruits.

“He had slow, slurred speech and squinty eyelids. It was hard to see his eyes,” Trooper Chris DelGenio of the Ohio State Highway Patrol testified Friday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court of Williams.

“He was continually falling asleep or nodding off.”

The testimony was part of a hearing in Williams’ criminal case held to determine whether statements Williams made to DelGenio at St. Joseph Health Center March 31, 2010, and blood taken there that day can be used as evidence.

The hearing will resume at 1:30 p.m. May 12 with Judge Andrew Logan presiding.

Williams, 45, of Austintown, faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of six counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, six counts of aggravated vehicular assault and one count of drug possession. He is free on bond.

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