Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012

5 now charged after girl’s death

Hours before she died, state investigators say, Elizabeth Molloy was one of four teens who pooled their cash to buy two bottles of rum for a party at a North Raleigh home.

“They all pitched in. They all contributed,” Jeff Lasater, special agent in charge of the N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement’s Raleigh office said.

On Wednesday, ALE announced that it has cited three more of the teens with involvement in the underage drinking that authorities think led to a Jeep Cherokee crash Jan. 7 that killed Molloy, 17, a Millbrook High School student.

With the new accusations, five people have now been cited in the case. The driver of the Cherokee, Garrett Lane Prince, 16, was charged immediately after the crash with a battery of offenses, including felony death by vehicle, driving while impaired and possession of alcohol.

But from the beginning police said they were looking for whoever was responsible for providing the alcohol to Prince. On Friday, ALE agents charged Anthony Du Juan Geter, 21, of 7101-3A Sandy Forks Road with purchasing two 1.75-liter bottles of Bacardi Dragon Berry rum at the Wake County ABC store on Sandy Forks Road.

Samantha M. McKinney, 17, and a 15-year-old juvenile have been cited for helping to purchase the alcohol.

The ALE officers also charged Hannah R. Smith, 18, of 8617 Hawksmoor Drive in Raleigh with two counts of aiding and abetting after they said she hosted the party where Prince and Molloy and others consumed alcohol before the crash.

State records show that before her arrest Tuesday, Hannah Smith already had a pending court date on charges of underage consumption of alcohol while hosting a party Sept. 30 at her parents’ home.

In both instances, Sept. 30 and Jan. 6, authorities say, Smith’s parents were not home.

Lasater said Geter told investigators he did not know the teens before their chance encounter on the night of Jan. 6.

Prince, Smith, McKinney, Molloy and the 15-year-old went to the ABC store on Sandy Forks Road hoping to buy liquor, even though they were too young, Lasater said. They spotted Geter across the street, standing outside the apartment complex where he lived. Geter had turned 21 on Dec. 29.

Lasater said Prince steered the Jeep across Sandy Forks Road and rolled into the parking lot where Geter was standing.

“The teens approached him and asked him to buy them liquor,” he said. “He agreed to buy the liquor. They gave him the money, and he crossed the street to the ABC store and bought the liquor.”

Lasater said sometime later that evening the teens ended up at a party at Smith’s home on Hawksmoor Drive, off Durant Road.

Both Prince and Smith had had previous contacts with law enforcement and had been ordered by the courts to avoid alcohol and other drugs.

Wake County District Court Judge Keith Gregory had sentenced Prince to probation Sept. 9 after he was convicted of breaking and entering and larceny. State records show that Prince tested positive for marijuana Sept. 22, days after he was sentenced, and again Nov. 15. He tested negative for it in December, state correction officials reported.

Smith, who turned 18 on Jan. 4, is scheduled to reappear in court May 8 on the Sept. 30 charges for a review of her case.

According to the Sept. 30 citation, Raleigh Officer G.R. Coe said Smith had beer all over her shirt and that there were open containers of Ice House beer in the house. Smith’s parents were not home.

On Nov. 8, Smith was able to avoid criminal prosecution by admitting her guilt and paying $250 to participate in a first offender alcohol education program. She also agreed to work or attend school full-time, avoid more criminal charges and submit to drug screenings, records show. If she had successfully completed the alcohol education program, the Wake County District Attorney’s Office agreed to dismiss the charges against her.

Investigators say Molloy left the Jan. 6 party with Prince. One of Molloy’s friends called 911 at 2 a.m. to say she was riding in a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a drunken driver at a high rate of speed in North Raleigh.

A few minutes later, Prince lost control of the Jeep at 70 mph on Rainwater Road, knocked down a mailbox and crashed head on into a pine tree. The Jeep burst into flames.

Prince had been ejected from the vehicle. Two people pulled out Molloy, but emergency workers pronounced her dead at the scene.

Witnesses said agents with the City-County Bureau of Identification pulled what appeared to be two bottles of liquor from the burning Jeep.

Prince was charged also with careless and reckless driving, speeding, possession of alcohol, and possession of marijuana. He was released from the Wake County jail Saturday after posting a $61,000 bond, a jail spokesman said.

Geter was released, too, after posting $4,000 bail. He has no previous criminal record and works at a bakery. He declined to comment Wednesday.

Last year, ALE agents and other law enforcement officers statewide filed 548 charges against adults accused of helping minors purchase alcohol, according to state court records.

“Older people buying alcohol for young people happens frequently,” Lasater said. “In this case it ended with tragic consequences.”