Man Crashed His SUV Into a Parked Construction Vehicle, Killing His Two Sons. Then He Made Jokes About It
An absolute tragedy.
One man is facing a heavy sentence for his part in a car crash that killed his two sons, and joking about the experience. In Clay County, West Virgina, James Edward Neal II is looking at two counts of Driving Under the Influence. Fox 8 reports that the 34-year-old Indore resident is also charged with two counts of child neglect resulting in death. More details continue to emerge from Clay County Magistrate Court.
Reports on the ground indicated that Clay County police troopers responded to a crash on August 22. An SUV crashed into a parked vehicle from the West Virginia Department of Highways. State Police also responded to the crash and found the two boys, James and Zayden dead at the scene. Another child, a family friend, was admitted to the hospital in “critical condition.” More details emerged from the GoFundMe set up to manage the kid’s medical care.
The GoFundMe page reads, “Evan [Marling]’s seat belt and the impact from the accident “cut Evan in half on the inside.” His abs were split open, which is the wall that holds everything in place, so when it split, his organs pushed forward. So the inside of his stomach is split open with trauma hernias (a very bad one on the left side), bad bowel and bad colon, and a very bad L3 fracture that they can’t even treat until they get his stomach fixed. (He was having surgery today.) He has been on the ventilator until today.”
The two dead boys from this crash are no laughing matter
When the police approached the vehicle immediately after the crash, they discovered that James Neal had been using drugs. Authorities immediately informed him that he had killed his own children. And, the man behind the wheel could only reply with jokes about the lacerations he sustained on his hands according to Law And Crime. Interestingly, the Fox report also mentions that the troopers were aware that Neal had drug problems in the past. All of it adds up to a sad tale.
Now, the family mourns 7-year-old James Neal III and 13-year-old Zayde Hurley. According to the complaint, Neal allegedly fell asleep at the wheel. The investigators also argue that the driver was disoriented when they spoke with him. Troopers also discovered about 2 grams of burnt cannabis when they searched the vehicle. Here’s what the complaint said during their initial assessment of the scene.
“Mr. Neal crashed his vehicle into stationary pieces of DOH equipment in a straight stretch of the road,” the complaint reads. “Based on Mr. Neal having known he had used an intoxicating substance and then electing to operate the motor vehicle with juvenile passengers, he is directly responsible for the deaths and serious bodily injury sustained in the crash.”
For now, a sad story sits without resolution. The third boy is raising the money for treatment. And, Neal is in court with a bond set at $1 million. Now, a community wants answers after this father acted with such recklessness that cost him his children.
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