Suspect charged with 3 counts vehicular homicide, turns himself in.

[BRealistic]

It is very hard to be sympathetic to hit and run drivers- especially when they hit pedestrians.

Young people need to read this story and understand how a few seconds of not paying full attention to the road can kill people and make you fresh meat at the penitentiary.


http://www.local8now.com/news/headli...157203915.html

Suspect charged with 3 counts vehicular homicide, turns himself in


Photo taken after a 2011 arrest in Knox County on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia.(you don't say?) Charges later dropped. (really?)



Chasity Thornell was killed in an early morning apparent hit and run Wednesday, May 30, 2012


Nelzon Soto Sr. and wife Elvia Hercules (Nelzon also killed in hit and run as he was helping the pregnant blonde at 1:30 a.m.)


KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- The Knox Co. Grand Jury indicted one man in connection with the hit and run that claimed the lives of a good Samaritan, a pregnant, young mother, and her unborn child, according to the Knoxville Police Dept.

Curtis Scott Harper turned himself in to police at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday and is expected to be held on $300,000 bond. The 22 year-old is facing three counts of Vehicular Homicide and one count each of DUI, Tampering with Evidence, and Reckless Endangerment.

Harper's attorney, James Price of Nashville, told Local 8 News they planned for Harper to turn himself in once the Grand Jury brought charges.

Authorities believe he was behind the wheel of of the SUV that struck and killed Nelson Soto, Jr., Chasity Thornell, and her unborn child.

Harper had previous run ins with the law, according to authorities. Harper was arrested for possessing drug paraphernalia following a traffic stop in Knox Co. last year, but charges were dismissed. In 2008, he was convicted of theft of property under $500 in Franklin, according to the Williamson Co. Sheriff's Office. His sentence was suspended after serving 48 hours at the Williamson Co. Jail.

Soto had reportedly just finished helping Thornell and another woman who had run out of gas in front of his home early in the morning last Wednesday when they were hit. Thornell was seven months pregnant.

Police reported they found pieces of Harper's 2004 Ford Explorer at the scene of the crash on Washington Pike early that morning. Traces of blood, skin and hair were also found on the car during the search. The car is registered to his parents, Pam and Herb Harper of Franklin, TN.

The warrant also claimed witnesses told police Harper admitted "He hit someone on the side of the road."

Harper graduated from the University of Tennessee in May 2012. He majored in Plant Sciences, with a concentration in Landscape Architecture and Design.

[MikeSAABt]

god damn. i don't know how you drive away from that.

[bubbagti]

Harper had previous run ins with the law, according to authorities. Harper was arrested for possessing drug paraphernalia following a traffic stop in Knox Co. last year, but charges were dismissed.

Harper graduated from the University of Tennessee in May 2012. He majored in Plant Sciences, with a concentration in Landscape Architecture and Design.

You don't say

Although I'm sure the decision was based on strong legal advice and also for the judge to have leniency on him, I can respect the fact that he turned himself in.

The fact that he killed 3 individuals on the other had

[emmettlodge]

I'd hit that too.

[BRealistic]

I can respect the fact that he turned himself in.

He either could turn himself in or "go on a trip" (his words).
I don't think he had much choice.. it wasn't like he sobered up the next day and realize he needed to turn himself in.
The cops had already confiscated the SUV driven at the time of the hit and run (covered in blood and hair evidence) he had tried to hide.
Respect? my ass.
This guy is a loser with a capital L.

Here is more on another site:

http://www.wbir.com/news/article/222...DUI-conviction

Last Wednesday, just after 1:30 a.m., 24-year-old Chasity Thornell, who was seven months pregnant, and 45-year-old Nelson Soto Sr., were struck and killed while standing alongside Washington Pike. The vehicle, which police later identified as a 2004 silver Ford Explorer, never stopped. The Soto family has hired Greg Isaacs to represent them.

How Knoxville police tracked down Harper after the accident is outlined in an affidavit seeking a search warrant.

One witness told police that he saw a man near Alice Bell Road and Washington Pike examining his vehicle around 1:45 a.m. The witness described the man as a college-aged, tall, slender, white male with a ponytail and wearing a tie-dye shirt.

The witness said he offered the man help, but the man waved him away. He added that he saw heavy damage to the front passenger side of the vehicle.

Later, when he saw the crash reported on the news, he called 911, according to the court document.

The affidavit also states that Harper had a conversation with his roommate around 2 a.m., just after the crash. Harper told his roommate that he was driving the vehicle when it hit the victims and admitted to having a few drinks, according to the documents.

The roommate also noticed the damage to the vehicle, and said that when he returned home later that morning, both Harper and the SUV were gone. He added that Harper later returned driving another vehicle, and at that time, told his roommate that he had hit and killed two people and he thought it was a good idea to "go on a trip."

The roommate's girlfriend, who also used to date Harper, called police to report what Harper said to his roommate.

KPD tracked the driver of the vehicle that Harper was later seen driving to a home on Gratz Road, where an officer found the 2004 Ford Explorer in the yard. The vehicle was impounded by police as evidence. According to the search warrant, investigators collected blood swabs from the vehicle, as well as samples of hair and paint chips.

One of the residents from that Gratz Street address told 10News that he was unaware Harper would be leaving the SUV at his home, and when he learned what had happened, he told Harper to turn himself in to authorities. When that didn't happen, the resident told 10News he called the police.

[MikeSAABt]

I'd hit that too.

[Clyde Smith]

I'd hit that too.

Lowell.

*Checks bags for one-way express flight to hell*

[a_riot]

I'd hit that too.

That's classy.

[bmxguy]

I'd hit that too.

hit and run?

[RacerrRex]

Lowell.

*Checks bags for one-way express flight to hell*

OH my god i laughed so loud that my brothers daughter from texas who is visiting me for my graduation gave me a dirty look and asked if i was okay

[BRealistic]

I'd hit that too.

Necrophiliac?

(gotcha... but it was a funny line.)

Oh, and too soon.
Wow, the internet will send us all to hell in a hand-basket.
Wait, why the hand-basket? why did I say hand-basket? Weird saying.

[gti.fly.by]

Thanks for posting this. He will probably get off......again. Mommy and daddy bailed him out today.

[surefooted]

Ok. Serous question. How can he be charged with 3 counts of vehicular homicide? The unborn child counts as one in this instance? How is that when by law it's not a person (can be aborted). Can't have it both ways. 2 counts of vehicular homicide would be enough right?

[RacerrRex]

Ok. Serous question. How can he be charged with 3 counts of vehicular homicide? The unborn child counts as one in this instance? How is that when by law it's not a person (can be aborted). Can't have it both ways.

Funny, this was actually a HUGE topic in some court case that my sociology teacher quizzed us on.

Something like a pregnant woman got murdered and the culprit was charged on 2 murders, yet she was actually on her way to get on abortion at the time of the murdering. So they debated whether the unborn child should be considered as a murder in that case. I forgot what the turnout was though and i forgot the information i researched on it

[$teve]

I would say that similar to an abortion, considering the pergnancy a "life" by law depends on the term of the pregnancy.. But that's just my assumption.

Crossing my fingers we can stay on topic and not have this turn into a pro choice vs pro life thread..


Rip to the lost.

[LethaOne]

I'd hit that too.

[surefooted]

I would say that similar to an abortion, considering the pergnancy a "life" by law depends on the term of the pregnancy.. But that's just my assumption.

Crossing my fingers we can stay on topic and not have this turn into a pro choice vs pro life thread..


Rip to the lost.

So at a certain point it become a child, even unborn? That's stupid. I'm still on the grounds that he should have been only charged with 2 counts of vehicular homicide.

[Triumph]

People who show no remorse for this kind of thing need to have the book thrown at them. Bets are that when he breaks down in court, crying like a baby, he probably will be shedding a tear for his own life that he ruined, rather than those of the people he killed. What a POS.

OH my god i laughed so loud that my brothers daughter from texas who is visiting me for my graduation gave me a dirty look and asked if i was okay

You couldn't have just said your niece?

[MightyDSM]

I'd hit that too.

[C4 A6]

Did TCL identify that Ford part left at the scene?

[2000JettaGLXVR6]

I'd hit that too.

[The Igneous Faction]

That woman is dead and all you mongoloids can talk about is how you'd **** her given the chance?

I mean seriously, **** off to your rooms, think about the women in your life that you care about, and try practicing a little decency once in awhile.

I mean really. Come on.

COME ON.

[czykvw]

I'd hit that too.

[GLI Dan]

Interesting if they actually do count the unborn child as a life. I feel as though it would be an aggravating circumstance and not a charge, but obviously I'm not a professional...yet

[DJMRDARK]

I'd hit that too.

too soon....

[WakusPakus]

kinda soon for it, but funny none the less.


i don't think it warrants swear words and telling people to go to their room, but hey...what do i know.

[YEAHTOM]

Ok. Serous question. How can he be charged with 3 counts of vehicular homicide? The unborn child counts as one in this instance? How is that when by law it's not a person (can be aborted). Can't have it both ways. 2 counts of vehicular homicide would be enough right?

Can you abort at 7 months?

[Mr.Tan]

Can you abort at 7 months?

google told me up to 24 weeks is a max, most are performed within the first 14 weeks but from what i was reading it seems like most place wont even do a 24 week abortion.. the ONLY exception for after 24 weeks is because of health issues.

either way, i'd totally consider that as a third murder i mean 7 months is pretty far along...its another innocent live that could have been spared.

[seroki]

google told me up to 24 weeks is a max, most are performed within the first 14 weeks but from what i was reading it seems like most place wont even do a 24 week abortion.. the ONLY exception for after 24 weeks is because of health issues.

either way, i'd totally consider that as a third murder i mean 7 months is pretty far along...its another innocent live that could have been spared.

As of June 1 2012...

In TN once the fetus is viable, meaning it could survive outside the womb(normally 6-7 months), termination can only occur if the mother is at significant health risk and the baby is unlikely to survive anyway.

So in essence they considered this fetus as viable/an actual baby. Therefore 3 counts.

Source: http://www.guttmacher.org/statecente...s/spib_OAL.pdf