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For members: Driver in fatal crash receives 12-year sentence

Posted at 8:32 pm April 18, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Scott-Gray-Hearing-Aug-11-2016

The driver in a fatal two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in April 2016 has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide by intoxication and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, and he received a 12-year sentence.

The defendant served more than the statutory minimum of 45 days before his plea agreement—he served about one year and one month in the Anderson County jail—and the rest of his 12-year sentence was suspended, to be served on intensive probation, among other conditions, according to Anderson County court records.

The crash three years ago killed a 23-year-old Heiskell woman.

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If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge Today P.O. Box 6064 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

Filed Under: Anderson County, Anderson County, Courts, Front Page News, Police and Fire, Premium Content Tagged With: Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County grand jury, Ann Coria, Bobby Smith, Clinton Highway, crash, Don Elledge, fatal crash, Isaiah Lloyd, Jessica Miner Taylor, plea agreement, reckless endangerment, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, Scott Allen Gray, Tennessee Highway Patrol, vehicular homicide, vehicular homicide by intoxication

Woman pleads guilty in fatal car-pedestrian crash on Clinton Highway

Posted at 12:56 pm October 18, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Destany Lynn Cotner

Destany Lynn Cotner

 

A Clinton woman has pleaded guilty in a fatal car-pedestrian hit-and-run crash on Clinton Highway in March.

Destany Lynn Cotner, 25, pleaded guilty in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Friday to two charges of leaving the scene of an accident involving death and driving under the influence (first offense).

As part of the plea agreement, two other charges were dismissed. Those charges were driving with a suspended or revoked license (first offense) and possession of contraband in a penal facility.

It was a plea by information, meaning Cotner had not yet been indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury.

Cotner initially told the Tennessee Highway Patrol that she was the driver the night of the crash, but she later changed her story to say her co-defendant Isaac Irwin, 26, also of Clinton, was the driver, according to a narrative filed in the case and attached to warrants.

Cotner received a two-year prison sentence on the conviction of leaving the scene of an accident involving death. As a standard offender, her release eligibility is 30 percent. Her sentence on this felony conviction was suspended, and she will be placed on supervised probation. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Claxton, Clinton, Front Page News, Police and Fire, Tennessee, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County Detention Facility, Anderson County EMS, Anderson County General Sessions Court, Anderson County grand jury, Anderson County Rescue Squad, Anderson County Sheriff's Department, Bobby Smith, car-pedestrian crash, Chris Conner, Claxton Fire Department, Clinton Police Department, David Stuart, Destany Lynn Cotner, Donald R. Elledge, driving under the influence, driving with a suspended or revoked license, DUI conviction, fatal car-pedestrian crash, fatal car-pedestrian hit-and-run crash, Isaac Irwin, Jade T. Richardson, leaving the scene of an accident involving death, Mark Lucas, Melissa Denny, possession of contraband in a penal facility, Stephen Barclay, Tennessee Highway Patrol, THP

Man indicted on vehicular homicide, other charges after Clinton Highway crash

Posted at 2:22 pm May 30, 2017
By John Huotari 3 Comments

Scott-Gray-Hearing-Aug-11-2016

Scott Gray, who has been indicted on vehicular homicide and other charges, is pictured above during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division I, in Clinton on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—A Knoxville man has been indicted on vehicular homicide and other charges in the death of a 23-year-old Heiskell woman after a two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in April 2016.

The specific homicide charge against Scott Allen Gray, 27, is vehicular homicide by intoxication. Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers testified during an August 11 preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division I, in Clinton that Gray smelled of alcohol and said he had been drinking and taken two anti-anxiety pills before the crash. Gray’s passenger, Jessica Miner Taylor, died about a week after the crash.

The Anderson County Grand Jury also indicted Gray on charges of reckless endangerment when a deadly weapon (a motor vehicle) is involved; failure to yield the right of way, resulting in death; failure of provide evidence of insurance; failure to carry a certificate of registration; failure to use due care; violation of the open container law; possession of drug paraphernalia; and possession of marijuana.

Gray had an arraignment and bond hearing scheduled this past Friday in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton.

Charges against Gray were bound over, or sent to the Grand Jury, during the preliminary hearing in August. The indictments were filed May 2. An indictment moves a case from Anderson County General Sessions Court to Anderson County Criminal Court. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Claxton, Front Page News, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Detention Facility, Anderson County General Sessions Court, Anderson County grand jury, Bobby Smith, Clinton Highway, crash, failure to yield the right-of-way, Isaiah Lloyd, Jessica Miner Taylor, Kimberly Williamson, reckless endangerment, Scott Gray, Tennessee Highway Patrol, THP, University of Tennessee Medical Center, UT Medical Center, vehicular homicide

Vehicular homicide, other charges sent to grand jury in Clinton Highway crash

Posted at 8:54 pm August 16, 2016
By John Huotari 4 Comments

Scott-Gray-Hearing-Aug-11-2016

Scott Gray, who has been charged with vehicular homicide, among other counts, is pictured above in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division I, in Clinton on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers testified Thursday that a driver charged with vehicular homicide smelled of alcohol and said he had been drinking and had taken two anti-anxiety pills before a two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in April that resulted in the death of a 23-year-old Heiskell woman.

There was a half-empty bottle of whiskey found between the driver’s seat and the rocker panel of the 1993 Eagle four-door sedan, according to testimony by a crash witness and THP Trooper Isaiah Lloyd, the lead trooper in the investigation. Lloyd testified that he saw a glass marijuana pipe with residue in the center console of the car, a marijuana joint inside a prescription bottle, and at least six beer cans on the passenger floorboard of the car, although it wasn’t clear if the cans were empty or full.

The THP said Scott Gray, 26, of Knoxville, was driving north on Clinton Highway in the Eagle sedan near Mehaffey Road on Thursday evening, April 28, when he turned into the path of a southbound 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle driven by Kimberly Williamson, 32, of Knoxville. The SUV driven by Williamson hit the car driven by Gray.

The passenger side of the Eagle had significant damage, and passenger Jessica Miner Taylor, 23, of Heiskell, was trapped and critically injured. After she was extricated, she was flown by a Lifestar medical helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, authorities said. She was immediately taken into the operating room because her bladder was torn from the crash, Lloyd said in arrest warrants filed in May.

Gray was taken by ambulance to UT Medical Center the day of the crash. Williamson had minor injuries, and she was taken in a personal vehicle to Tennova North, where she was treated and released, authorities said earlier.

Miner died from her injuries about a week after the crash, on Friday, May 6, according to her obituary. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Claxton, Police and Fire, Police and Fire, Slider, Tennessee, Top Stories, UT Lifestar Tagged With: Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County General Sessions Court, Anderson County grand jury, Bobby Smith, Clinton Highway, crash, Don Layton, failure to use due care and caution, improper turn/failure to yield, Isaiah Lloyd, Jessica Miner Taylor, Kimberly Williamson, Mehaffey Road, no insurance, open container, possession of drug paraphernalia, preliminary hearing, Scott Gray, simple possession, Tennessee Highway Patrol, THP, Tim Howe, University of Tennessee Medical Center, UT Medical Center, vehicular homicide

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