Two men in Pennsylvania are being charged in connection with a deadly crash that took the life of a 15-year old girl and injured 4 others.
William R. Soliday, 43, and Andrew Voigt, 37, are facing numerous felony charges in connection with the Sept. 20 collision in Dravosburg between a school van and a Volkswagen, which resulted in the death of Samantha Kalkbrenner, a cheerleader at Serra Catholic High School in Pennsylvania.
Soliday was charged with third-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, homicide by a vehicle, and reckless driving.
Meanwhile, Voigt is facing one felony count of accidents involving death/personal injury along with multiple misdemeanors.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. stated during a press conference that the two men were racing each other when the September 20th crash occurred.
“At the point of impact between the vehicle and the van, the vehicle was 90 miles an hour at the point of impact, there are no skid marks,” Zappala Jr. alleged. “These kids are going to school… Driving is a privilege. You do stuff like this. You are a murderer.”
“This is just absolutely an irresponsible act,” he added.
Authorities reported, “Two drivers were racing each other when Soliday who was driving a white Volkswagen Jetta, crashed into the school van. The van was traveling into the intersection to turn left onto Richland Avenue towards the Mansfield bridge. The Volkswagen struck the Ford school van on the driver’s side in the intersection of Richland Avenue and 3rd Street.”
There were five people in that Serra Catholic High School van; the driver and four high school kids, including Kalkbrenner, who died at the scene.
“Three of the kids were ejected from the vehicle on impact,” Zappala Jr. stated.
Authorities also reported that Voigt didn’t stop at the crash site. Soliday and Voigt worked at a nearby business, about a quarter of a mile from the crash site.
“She was the beating heart of her class,” school principal Robert Childs said sadly about the sophomore after the deadly crash. “The way she treated everyone, the way she was kind to everyone.”
