Driver in Fatal Crash Was High On Wet, Prosecutor Says

A Pennsauken man who authorities say was high on a combination of PCP and marijuana and was speeding when he crashed into another car, killing Cherry Hill residents Anada Medina and Stephanie Garcia, remains in jail on $1 million bail after making his first court appearance, six months after the fatal wreck.

Keith Johnson stared straight ahead, completely silent during the proceeding, after limping into court early Friday afternoon to face charges of vehicular manslaughter and assault by auto, not reacting once as Assistant Prosecutor Howard Gilfert read through the particulars of the incident.

Medina and Garcia were headed south in a Honda Odyssey near the circle on Chapel Avenue when Johnson, who had smoked wet—the street term for marijuana dipped in PCP, which was found in “significant levels” in his blood and urine—barreled north in a Dodge Durango, ignoring traffic signals and going the wrong way through the circle, Gilfert said.

Johnson was speeding, despite pleas to slow down from a woman riding as a passenger in the SUV, Gilfert said, going “well in excess” of the 25-mph speed limit on the road. Witnesses reportedly claimed Johnson was going as fast as 100 mph, but Gilfert and others from the county prosecutor's office wouldn't say exactly how fast they believe he was traveling.

Gilfert argued for bail to stay at $1 million, pointing to Johnson's six driver's-license suspensions and criminal history, including a sexual assault charge as a juvenile, two adult convictions and a contempt of court conviction as signs the Pennsauken man is a flight risk.

But Johnson's attorney, Robert Simons, pointed to Johnson's local ties—his six children, his family, who nearly all live in Pennsauken, his former jobs as a cabbie and a hotel worker nearby—as reason to reduce that figure.

“I don't know how his ties to the community could be any stronger,” Simons said.

That argument, as well as arguments Johnson's family couldn't even afford to post $350,000 bail, didn't pass muster with Judge Lee Solomon, who said the seriousness of the charges provide strong motivation for Johnson to skip town.

“This is a horrific offense,” the judge said.

Several of Johnson's family members, who declined to speak after the proceeding, watched from the gallery; Medina and Garcia's family, who are from northern New Jersey, weren't able to attend the session, prosecutors said.

Friday's appearance was the first time Johnson, who was also seriously injured in the crash, had been able to be moved from treatment to face the charges against him, authorities said. Johnson was originally treated at Cooper University Hospital in Camden before getting moved to a state prison medical facility for rehab.