Second-degree murder charges filed in wreck that killed 3

Chandler Kania, from Asheboro, was charged in an Orange County courtroom Thursday afternoon with three second-degree murder charges, three counts of felony death by a motor vehicle and one count of felony serious injury by a motor vehicle.

So far, Kania has been charged with driving while impaired, careless and reckless driving, possession of an open container of alcohol, possession of alcohol by a person under 21 and driving by a person under 21 after consuming alcohol.

Three people in the Suzuki were killed instantly: the driver, Felecia Harris, 49, of Charlotte; a front-seat passenger, Darlene McGee, 46, of Charlotte; and Jahnice Baird, 6, Brooklyn, N.Y., who was riding in the back seat.

If Kania does post bond, the judge imposed conditions that Kania submit to electronic house arrest, not to consume alcohol, submit to a curfew between eight o’clock at night and eight in the morning, and have no contact with investigators, victims, or possible witnesses in the case.

Harris’ daughter, Jahnia King, 9, was also seriously hurt in the crash.

Chandler Michael Kania, 20, had previously faced several other charges related to the crash, which took place about 3 a.m. Sunday.

Smith said Kania, a rising junior at UNC-Chapel Hill, is cooperating with the investigation of the crash and would continue to do so.

According to the station, five people reportedly tried to stop Kania from getting behind the wheel in Chapel Hill, Nieman said. People reportedly tried to take Kania’s keys but wound up grabbing his cellphone instead, thinking that would prevent him from leaving, the prosecutor said.

Authorities have been granted permission to access bank account information belonging to the UNC student charged in a deadly drunk driving crash.

Nieman called Kania a danger to himself and others as well as a flight risk and asked the judge to set the bond at $1.5 million. The family on Wednesday issued a statement saying they were “absolutely devastated about this tragedy”.

“This case represents nearly unimaginable horror and loss and tragedy”, he says, “and is an indictment, in many ways, of the world we live in and the world we tolerate”.