Diane Read, the driver of the car that crashed into a Middlesex Township convenience store killing two passengers, leaves her preliminary hearing at the district magistrate is office in Saxonburg flanked by her attorney, Casey D. White. Wednesday, February 10, 2021.
SAXONBURG — A Valencia woman charged with homicide in a double-fatality car accident in May 2020 waived her right to a preliminary trial Wednesday.
Diane E. Read, 37, signed the documents before District Judge Sue Haggerty.
Read's attorney, Casey D. White, said there were multiple reasons for waiving the hearing, including avoiding putting the victims' families under more duress, if they attended. He said the victims were his client's two closest friends.
“She didn't want hard feelings to resonate,” White said. “She lives with her loss daily, and the other two families are in her constant thoughts and prayers.”
According to Haggerty, Read will appear next April 5 in Butler County Common Pleas Court. She remains free on an unsecured bond.
Read has been charged twice — for each victim — with felony counts, including homicide by vehicle while driving drunk and homicide by vehicle. She has also been charged with two counts of misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter, along with summary offenses.According to charging documents, Read was nearly twice the legal limit for alcohol on May 17 when she drove a vehicle into the former CoGo's on Route 8 in Middlesex Township.Her passengers, Kimberly Young, 39, and Patricia Collins, 36, died of injuries in the crash. Read had been hospitalized with injuries from the crash.According to police, the women were neighbors and had come from Read's home, where a “social gathering” was taking place and where alcohol was consumed.“This is one of the saddest cases that I've ever dealt with,” said White. “It's just a tragic set of circumstances.”Under state law, each count of homicide by vehicle while DUI, a second-degree felony, carries a mandatory minimum of three years in state prison.White said he is looking forward to seeing the discovery, which is evidence collected during the state's investigation. He said by waiving the preliminary hearing, it may build a path toward “some sort of amicable solution.”“We're going to do our due diligence,” he said. “Hopefully, we can find some resolution to give all three families peace.”
