ALBEMARLE — On Dec. 10, the Albemarle Police Department charged Asia Monique Grady, 33, with misdemeanor death by vehicle.
Days earlier, on Dec. 6, Grady was involved in a collision with Mitchell L. Morton, 51, at the intersection of U.S. 52 and West Main Street in Albemarle at 7:12 a.m.
According to an APD statement, Grady was driving east on West Main Street in a 2013 Honda Odyssey and collided with Morton, who was driving north on U.S. 52 in a 2020 Jeep Wrangler. Only the two vehicles were involved in the accident.
The press release after the incident said that Morton “succumbed to his injuries as a result of the crash.”
Under North Carolina law, a person is charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle if they “unintentionally causes the death of another person” while “engaged in the violation of any State law or local ordinance applying to the operation or use of a vehicle or to the regulation of traffic, other than impaired driving,” and that violation of law was “the proximate cause of the death.”
If the violation of the law that caused Morton’s death had been impaired driving, the charge would have been felony death by vehicle rather than misdemeanor death by vehicle.
The Albemarle Police Department closed the intersection of U.S. 52 and West Main Street while the investigation was being conducted, but opened the road back up later that morning.
UPDATE: According to a Dec. 16 statement by the City of Albemarle, “After the completion of a full investigation, Ms. Grady was arrested and charged with Misdemeanor Death by vehicle, failure to stop at a steady red light, and failure to wear seatbelt by driver. Ms. Grady has a first scheduled court appearance of December 20, 2021 at 9am.”