Hearing set for Philadelphia man charged with involuntary manslaughter

A Philadelphia man charged with involuntary manslaughter is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing.

James Jamil Walker, 22, of the 400 block of North Brown Street, faces charges on three counts of recklessly endangering another person; two controlled substance counts; and one count each of homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving, careless driving, driving a vehicle at an unsafe speed and required financial responsibility.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by trooper Barry Wooten of the Pennsylvania State Police:

On April 16, 2016, Wooten investigated a crash on I-478, Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension at mile marker AB2.3 northbound.

Involved in the crash were a 2010 Ford Crown Victoria, as well as five occupants.

The crash occurred as Walker lost control of the vehicle while in the left lane passing other vehicles.

After losing control, the vehicle crossed the right lane and left the roadway off the northbound berm.

The vehicle traveled up an embankment and back onto the roadway, during which a back seat passenger was ejected onto the road.

The passenger, Derek C. Mitchell, died on scene as a result of the injuries from the ejection.

Mitchell was pronounced dead on scene by Carbon County Deputy Coroner Gerald Jones.

Two other passengers were flown to medical centers due to injuries suffered from the crash.

Dajon Worrells was flown to St. Luke’s Hospital, Bethlehem, and Robert Wilkerson was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital.

While on-scene, Wooten interviewed Walker around 8:15 p.m.

Walker said that as he was passing a bus, the steering wheel began to shake and he then lost control of the vehicle.

Walker was in possession of a backpack that Wooten noticed smelled of raw marijuana.

Walker claimed that there was marijuana in the pack, and he had intended to sell it at the Bloomsburg block party, which was his destination that night.

Wooten took possession of a total of 34.01 grams of suspected marijuana packaged in baggies, vials and small plastic jars for individual sale.

The suspected marijuana was entered into evidence at Pennsylvania State Police Pocono and transferred to Wyoming Regional Laboratory where it tested positive as marijuana.

The crash was reconstructed that day by Troop N Collision Analysis Reconstruction Specialist Unit, specifically trooper Matthew Hunter, who determined that Walker’s vehicle was traveling at excessive speeds before the crash.

Walker is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the office of District Judge Eric Schrantz of Jim Thorpe.

He remains free on $75,000 unsecured bail.