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LISBON -- A trial date of March 4 has been set for a Columbiana man charged with involuntary manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide and other charges related to him allegedly crashing a stolen truck into another vehicle on Aug. 6 in Hanover Township.
Gerald Jackson, 40, McCloskey Road, appeared recently for a scheduling hearing in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court with his defense attorney Paul Conn. County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Weikart represented the state.
An interim status hearing was set for 8:30 a.m. Dec. 21, with a final status hearing set for 1 p.m. Feb. 23.
Jackson was issued a superseding indictment earlier this month with new more serious charges after one of the victims from the crash, Jennifer Hunley, 47, of Hanoverton died. The other victim, a juvenile male, was seriously injured.
The charges against him now include involuntary manslaughter and aggravated vehicular homicide, both first-degree felonies; aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular assault, a second-degree felony; misdemeanors of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or a combination of both, two counts operating a vehicle while under the influence of a listed controlled substance or listed metabolite of a controlled substance and driving under suspension, fourth-degree felonies of grand theft of a motor vehicle and two counts receiving stolen property, third-degree felonies of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer and vehicular assault, fifth-degree felony vandalism and misdemeanor attempted breaking and entering.
Jackson allegedly stole a truck belonging to Donald Pitts on Aug. 6 on U.S. Route 30, Hanoverton, fled from a sheriff's deputy attempting a traffic stop after seeing the truck that had been reported stolen and crashed the truck in a head-on collision in Hanover Township, injuring two people in the other vehicle, including Hunley and the juvenile. After the crash, Jackson fled on foot and was found hiding in a nearby field and taken into custody.
The superseding indictment alleged that Jackson caused Hunley's death while driving recklessly and committing offenses of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer and theft of a motor vehicle. He was also accused of causing her death while driving impaired and causing injury to the other victim while impaired.
The new charges for OVI alleged he had methamphetamine and marijuana in his system also at the time of the crash.
Some of the charges allege that he caused physical harm to property owned by Simon Automotive, had a stolen 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 belonging to Gotch and Company, had a stolen 2007 Lincoln Town Car belonging to Old School Classic LLC, all on Aug. 6.