The 911 calls were coming in early in the morning of Sunday, July 19, 2015.
One caller described a Jeep driving the wrong way on I-85 “and he’s not driving slow.”
Another caller reported the scene of a devastating crash.
“Oh my God, it’s on fire! It’s on fire! Oh my God, it’s on fire!”
Three people were killed in that crash – 49-year-old Felicia Harris, 46-year-old Darlene McGee and six-year-old Jahnice Baird.
Another passenger, nine-year-old Jahnia King was also seriously hurt in the crash.
Chandler Kania, from Asheboro, was driving the Jeep traveling the wrong way, according to law enforcement. Kania was a 20-year-old UNC student at the time. Police reports ultimately showed Kania’s blood-alcohol content was .17 the night of the crash, more than double the legal limit to drive in North Carolina.
After a few days in the hospital being treated for his own injuries, Kania made his first appearance in court in Hillsborough, where he was served with three counts of second-degree murder. Assistant District Attorney Jeff Nieman laid out the events that happened leading up to that crash as was understood from the preliminary investigation.
“Based on eyewitness accounts, he was traveling that direction of travel for – we believe at this time – at least six miles,” the Assistant DA said in court.
Nieman added that investigators found that some of Kania’s friends had attempted to keep him from driving that night after the group had spent several hours drinking.
“There are eyewitness accounts of his behavior from earlier in the night in which at least one and as many as five people, before he decided to get in the vehicle in Chapel Hill, attempted to physically restrain him,” Nieman said, “and that he fought physically with at least one of those people – knocking at least one of those people to the ground.”
Kania was held in jail on a $1 million bond. After an attempt to get the bond lowered from Kania’s attorney, family members of the victims said they were happy the judge kept the bond at $1 million.
“It’s quite evident that the guy is guilty of the charges,” said Bakojo Oguntola, McGee’s cousin.
Oguntola said at the time, just over one week after the crash, that his family did not hold any malice toward Kania.
“He’s a victim as well, but like I said earlier, he’s a victim of his choices,” Oguntola said. “He’s a victim of the choices that he made. And he’s a murderer. A drunk driver.
“And we’ve seen this scenario so many times in this country. He’s a drunk driver. Whether he’s 20, 30, 40 or 50, it still comes out to be the same thing.”
But Oguntola said that he was concerned about getting justice in this case.
“There’s no mystery that privileged people have a way of pushing things under the rug,” Oguntola said. “And there has to be accountability.
“And we choose to be here to make sure that we have an eye on the situation; that in case family have an opportunity to speak up, then our voices can be heard – because Darlene’s voice cannot be heard. But we can speak on her behalf.”
After his appeal for a bond reduction was denied, Kania was released from prison after posting the $1 million bond. He left custody nine days after the crash.
Kania was indicted on all charges in late September.
Chapel Hill bars La Res and He’s Not Here both paid fines for the businesses alleged roles the night of the accident, which involved serving alcohol to a group of underage patrons that included Kania.
The case has been relatively quiet recently. Kania made a court appearance earlier this year but had his next court appearance set for this fall.
A vigil is scheduled to be held at Peace and Justice Plaza in Chapel Hill at eight o’clock Tuesday night in honor of the three lives that were lost.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines