Man Charged With Manslaughter In Fatal Woodbury Crash: State Police

WOODBURY, CT — A man has been charged in a head-on crash that killed a Woodbury driver and injured a passenger, according to state police.

Isiah Turner, 25, of Ansonia, turned himself in to Troop L in Litchfield on Monday.

The crash occurred last July on Route 6 in Woodbury. Turner was driving a Dodge Dakota pickup truck that crossed the yellow line and struck a Subaru Baja traveling in the opposite direction head on, police said.

The driver, Robert Gardner, 56, of Woodbury, died in the accident. A 65-year-old passenger from Woodbury was seriously injured.

Turner was driving "while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, and/or both causing a collision which resulted in the death of another operator, as well as serious life threatening injuries to a passenger," police wrote in an arrest warrant.

Police said that Turner tested positive for cocaine, oxycodone, opiates, and cannabinoids after the crash.

He was charged with second-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault with a motor vehicle, illegal operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol/drugs, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, failure to drive upon right side of roadway, and failure to wear seat belt.

Turner was held on $200,000 and transferred to the custody of the Department of Corrections. He was scheduled for arraignment in Waterbury Superior Court on Tuesday.