It was a sad Christmas for one Landover, MD, family who said their final goodbyes to their 20-year-old beloved family member who died in a recent collision with a driver suspected of driving while impaired.
The funeral, held just two days before Christmas, was packed with almost 1,000 mourners who attended to pay their last respects to the Morgan State University business student.
Friends and relatives shared happy memories of times with the young man, saying, “A legacy of laughs. Anytime I’m with [him] he always laughs and jokes,” and from his younger brother, “That’s my big brother. [W]hen I talk about him I’m going to smile, cause . . . I think about . . . the happy times. [W]e just did great things together.”
The wreck occurred as the young man drove on Route 202. An oncoming car driven by a 31-year-old man crossed over the center line and crashed head-on into his vehicle.
Initially, the man was charged with reckless driving and Driving Under the Influence; however, pending a full investigation, prosecutors dropped those charges. At a future point, they expect charges to be re-filed.
The man who was responsible for the accident has a past history of both driving and attempting to drive under the influence, among other priors.
Whenever a promising young life is snuffed out needlessly due to the negligent actions of another, it is indeed a tragedy. Regardless of how the eventual criminal proceedings unfold, families of those killed by allegedly drunken or drugged drivers have the right to seek legal remedies through the Maryland civil court system.
Source: WUSA, “Hundreds say goodbye to 20-year-old killed in crash,” Nikki Burdine and WUSA Staff, Dec. 23, 2015
