BECKLEY, W.Va. — A Florida man is scheduled to appear in Raleigh County Circuit Court March 1 after being indicted in January on five criminal counts in connection with a fatal crash on the West Virginia Turnpike in March 2014.
Rafael Herrera was arraigned Wednesday in Beckley after being named in a 5-count criminal indictment by a Raleigh County grand jury.
Herrera was driving the wrong way on the Turnpike March 22, 2014 and struck an approaching vehicle head-on being driven by Lisa McCormick, 43, of Knoxville, TN. McCormick, a Kanawha County native, was killed, her two daughters and a family friend were critically injured. All three young women have since recovered.
State troopers said Herrera turned around near the Ghent toll plaza and started driving north in the southbound lanes and struck McCormick’s vehicle. She was heading back to Tennessee after spending time in Kanawha County.
Herrera is charged with second-degree murder, driving under the influence causing death and three counts of driving wile under the influence causing bodily injury.