Friends of Chandler Kania Testify in Trial Over Fatal Crash

The trial of a former UNC student charged with murder after a fatal wrong-way crash in Orange County last summer entered its second day Thursday.

Friends of Chandler Kania took the stand on Thursday recounting events in mid-July 2015 that resulted in the death of three individuals.

Kania, who was a 20-year-old UNC student at the time of the crash, spent several hours drinking before driving the wrong way on I-85 for at least six miles before crashing head-on into another vehicle, killing three of the four passengers – 49-year-old Felicia Harris, 46-year-old Darlene McGee and six-year-old Jahnice Baird. The fourth passenger in the car, nine-year-old Jahnia King, was seriously injured in the crash.

Friends of Kania from his home in Asheboro and from his time at UNC testified on Thursday. They recounted events beginning on Friday, July 17 of last year when Kania met with friends from high school Alex Pugh and Josh Hall to go to a concert in Wilmington. Pugh and Hall testified that the three of them smoked marijuana several times and drank alcohol on that Friday. The trio then traveled to Chapel Hill on Saturday and met up with some other UNC students taking classes over the summer.

Rebecca Greene, who is now a senior at UNC, testified that she and Kania were friends and that a group of mostly underage individuals were planning to gather at her apartment before heading out to bars that were typically more open to underage individuals in Chapel Hill. The group spent time drinking at Greene’s apartment before going to La Res and He’s Not Here.

After the bars closed, Kania and one of his friends got into an argument over, what his defense attorneys described, as “a couple of girls.”

That led to Kania getting “agitated,” according to Pugh’s testimony. He also testified several members of the group tried to keep Kania from driving that night. They were unsuccessful.

Kania has already entered guilty pleas to three counts of felony death by motor vehicle, felony serious injury by motor vehicle and driving while impaired, among other charges.

But he is still facing three counts of second-degree murder and one count of reckless driving.

For Kania to be convicted of murder, the state has to prove to the jury that Kania acted with malice the night of the crash.

One juror was dismissed from the proceedings on Thursday for falling asleep during the testimony from one witness.

The trial is set to continue on Friday and is expected to last between two and three weeks.

Friends of Chandler Kania Testify in Trial Over Fatal Crash

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