NORRISTOWN >> One of two men awaiting trial for allegedly causing a double-fatal crash while racing on Route 422 in West Pottsgrove has won his bid for bail, with certain restrictions, but has been unable to post it and remains in jail.
After a hearing in Montgomery County Court, Judge Todd D. Eisenberg set bail at $750,000 cash for Evaughn-Sha Antonio Walters, 21, who is awaiting trial in connection with the 12:02 a.m. Feb. 4, 2017, crash on eastbound Route 422 in West Pottsgrove that left two people, including a pregnant woman, dead.
In a court order dated Aug. 2, the judge said in the event Walters is released on bail he will have to wear an electronic monitoring device that will allow authorities to determine his whereabouts at all times.
Court records indicate Walters has not posted the bail and is still in custody at the county jail.
Walters previously had been denied bail by a lower court judge and he asked Eisenberg to revisit the bail matter.
Defense lawyer Ryan L. Hyde argued Walters “is constitutionally entitled to reasonable bail on this matter.” Hyde said Walters, of Washington, D.C., does not have a criminal history and if released could find gainful employment. Walters’ fiancee currently resides in Berks County and is expecting his child and Walters would reside in Berks County, court papers indicate.
Walters faces two counts of third-degree murder, one count each of third-degree murder of an unborn child and conspiracy to commit third-degree murder as well as charges of homicide by vehicle, unsworn falsification to authorities and recklessly endangering other persons in connection with the fatal crash.
A second driver, Shone G. Santiago, 22, of New York, N.Y., also faces the murder-related charges and a charge of driving under the influence of marijuana in connection with the incident. Santiago is being held without bail pending trial and he has not filed court papers seeking to modify the bail.
Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Eisenberg has set an Oct. 16 trial date for the men.
Killed in the crash were Anthony Rodriguez, 23, of East Elmhurst, N.Y., and Marissa Christina Kelly, 20 of Stroudsburg, Monroe County, who were passengers in Santiago’s white BMW sedan. Kelly also was pregnant, authorities said.
The investigation determined Santiago and Walters, an hour before the fatal Route 422 crash, engaged in a race on Route 100. Detectives downloaded a video of the earlier race from Walters’ cellphone, a video allegedly recorded by Walters as he was racing Santiago.
Investigators determined Walters and Santiago knew each other by attending UTI technical school in Exton.
The investigation began when West Pottsgrove police responded to the eastbound lanes of Route 422 near the Stowe exit for a report of a one-vehicle crash involving a white 2007 BMW that left the roadway, crashed through a guard rail and careened 200 feet down an embankment and into a ravine. Santiago, the driver, and passengers Rodriguez and Kelly were trapped inside the overturned vehicle, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective David Schanes.
Rodriguez, the front right seat passenger, and Kelly, the rear left seat passenger, were declared dead at the scene. Santiago was transported by medical helicopter to Reading Hospital Trauma Center in West Reading with multiple injuries.
An autopsy determined Rodriguez and Kelly suffered blunt force head injuries. Doctors also determined Kelly was 15 weeks pregnant.
Detectives alleged Santiago’s car was traveling at a minimum speed of 121 mph just before the crash.
The crash occurred near a construction area and the posted speed limit is 40 mph and the area is marked by construction zone warning signs, authorities said.
Investigators determined Walters, driving a 2007 Toyota Camry, called 911 and told dispatchers he witnessed a car “run off the road.”
In his initial statement to detectives Walters claimed that Santiago and he were traveling at a slow speed at the eastbound entrance to the Route 422 bypass in Douglassville, Berks County, when a black Dodge Challenger with a Delaware license plate pulled up beside Santiago and then both cars “took off just flying.” Walters claimed he eventually came upon the damaged guard rail, stopped his car and saw Santiago’s car in the ravine upside down.
Walters initially claimed the black Dodge Challenger also stopped at the scene but then fled.
Based on Walters’ descriptions authorities initially searched for a black Dodge Challenger having a Delaware license plate.
However, detectives downloaded a video from Walters’ cellphone depicting an earlier race in the southbound lanes of Route 100 near Shoemaker Road and determined the cars involved where operated by Santiago and Walters, who was filming the race as he drove. The video recorded the speedometer of Walters’ vehicle at 140 mph during the earlier race, court papers indicate.
During a subsequent March 1 interview Walters then admitted to racing Santiago on Route 100 and later on Route 422 and to lying about a black Dodge being part of the Route 422 race, according to the arrest affidavit.
“Walters stated that Santiago asked him if he wanted to do another pull, meaning race. Walters replied, ‘not really.’ Walters said that they ended up racing anyway,” Schanes wrote in the arrest affidavit.
Walters, who admitted to traveling between 80- and 100-mph during the race, claimed he was behind Santiago’s car when he observed Santiago lose control of his car on a curve, crash through the guard rail and careen into the ravine.
