Fatal Montco Crash Results In Charges Against Dump Truck Driver, Owner

LOWER PROVIDENCE, PA — Montgomery County authorities have announced the arrests of two men in connection with a fatal vehicle accident this summer that took the life of a 31-year-old Lansdale woman and her unborn child.

The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office on Friday said criminal charges have been filed against Everett Clayton, 56, of Charleston, West Virginia, and Patrick Doran, 23, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, relating to the Aug. 25 crash that took the life of Kellie Adams and her unborn baby, Emersyn Grace Adams.

Patch reported on the fatal crash this summer.

Related: Wife, Unborn Child Of Montco Firefighter Die In Crash

Clayton, who was the driver of the 2003 Ford F650 XLT Super Duty dump truck, is being charged with homicide by vehicle, careless driving/unintentional death, reckless driving, driving at an unsafe speed and offenses relating to the unsafe and unregistered condition of the dump truck.

Doran, who is the owner of the vehicle, is being charged with homicide by vehicle, permitting violation of title, operating a vehicle without required financial responsibility, operating a vehicle without valid inspection and other offenses.

The crash occurred on Aug. 25 at around 3 p.m. along the 500 block of South Park Avenue in Lower Providence Township.

Adams' vehicle was struck head-on by the dump truck. She died at the scene and her baby was later delivered stillborn, according to the DA's Office.

Blood testing found that Clayton had consumed alcohol, but he was reportedly just under the legal limit for driving a vehicle in Pennsylvania.

Investigators determined that Clayton was speeding beyond the posted 25 mile per hour speed limit when negotiating a curve in the roadway, and the excessive speed caused the dump truck to veer out of his travel lane and strike Adams' Chevrolet Tahoe head-on.

Prosecutors said the dump truck hit the woman's vehicle with such a "violent impact" that it "immediately stopped all forward momentum of the Tahoe and caused the dump body portion of the dump truck to fully separate from the chassis, sending the chassis rolling," according to a news release from the DA's Office.

The DA's Office said that it was later discovered that Doran had purchased the dump truck the previous month using a false name and a fictitious New York state driver's license to complete the transaction.

"This dump truck was being operated in an unsafe manner by the driver Everett Clayton, which caused the dump truck to cross the center line and crash head on to the Chevrolet Tahoe, killing Kellie Adams and her baby Emersyn," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement. "Beyond the driver's direct action that caused the homicide, the owner allowed this truck to be on the road even though he knew it didn't even meet basic requirements for legal operation."

Prosecutors said that arrest warrants have been issued for both Clayton and Doran, and once they are arrested, they would be extradited to Montgomery County to face their criminal charges.

Adams was married to Jason Adams, a firefighter with Upper Providence Township.