Attorney: Jury Must Decide if Chandler Kania is a Murderer

While many facts have been agreed to in the case of a former UNC student accused of murder in a fatal wrong-way crash last summer, there is one major question left to be answered.

Chandler Kania spent July 18, 2015 drinking with a group of friends before getting into an argument with one of his friends and driving his Jeep Wrangler the wrong way on I-85 for approximately six miles and striking another vehicle head-on, killing three of the four passengers in the other vehicle – 49-year-old Felicia Harris, 46-year-old Darlene McGee and six-year-old Jahnice Baird.

The state and Kania’s defense attorneys have agreed to the events of that July night last year.

But did Kania act with malice that night? That is the question that is being put before the 12 jurors that will decide Kania’s fate on murder charges.

During his opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Jeff Nieman told the jurors that Kania, who was 20 years old at the time of the crash, continuously honked his horn and cursed at emergency first responders because they were not helping him, while the crews were helping the one passenger in the remaining vehicle who was not killed – nine-year-old Jahnia King.

Kania was pinned in his vehicle and suffered several broken bones in the crash.

Kania’s attorney Roger Smith told jurors that the notes from the State Trooper on the scene showed that Kania was unaware of what was going on around him.

Smith told the jury this case came down to one question, “Is Chandler Kania a murderer?”

To return a verdict of guilty on the three second-degree murder charges, the jury will have to determine that Kania acted with malice the night of the crash.

Nieman said that would be proved by showing that Kania acted with malice by fighting off friends that tried to stop him from driving the night of the crash, among other arguments.

Smith told the jurors that the law demands they rise above the emotions of the case and return a decision based on honest, fair and reasonable assessment of what happened the night of the crash.

Kania has already entered a guilty plea for three charges of felony death by motor vehicle, one count of felony serious injury by motor vehicle and driving while impaired – among other misdemeanor charges. He is still facing three counts of second-degree murder and one count of reckless driving.

Kania’s blood-alcohol content the night of the crash was .17, according to records, which is twice the legal limit to drive in North Carolina.

The trial is expected to last between two and three weeks.