
Law enforcement officials in Montgomery County have charged a Pottstown man with multiple counts of vehicular homicide for his, alleged, involvement in a crash that left two women dead earlier this year.
According to the office of Kevin Steele, Montgomery County District Attorney, Khaliym Smith, 22, of Pottstown, has been arrested and charged in the February 12 deaths of Maya Garner, 22, and Givonah “Gigi” Mitchell, 23, both of Philadelphia.
Smith turned himself in to police on Dec. 22, officials said.
According to police, the incident that led to the deaths of Garner and Mitchell occurred at about 2:32 a.m. on Feb. 12, along Route 422 and South Collegeville Road in the Collegeville section of Upper Providence Township.
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At that time, the DA's office said, police were dispatched to the area to find a 2021 grey Jeep Wrangler, overturned onto it's roof, while all the occupants of the vehicle had been tossed from the vehicle.
First responders, officials said, Garner was pronounced deceased at the scene while Mitchell was transported to a nearby hospital where she later succumbed to injuries she sustained in the crash.
The Jeep’s driver, Smith, his sister and another male passenger were found outside of the vehicle and were conscious, officials said.
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They were transported to a nearby hospital where they were placed in critical condition, the DA's office said.
At the scene, officials said, police who responded to the crash found a loaded black “ghost gun” with an extended magazine lying next to the Jeep and a black backpack that contained marijuana, a digital scale and a wallet containing Smith’s driver’s license and credit cards.
A follow up investigation into the crash, officials claim, found that Smith was driving westbound on State Route 422, at a high rate of speed -- an event recorder in the Jeep noted the vehicle was traveling in excess of 80 mph on a road that has a posted speed limit of 55 mph -- when it left the roadway, travelled through the grass median and rolled onto it's roof in the grass near South Collegeville Road before it struck a concrete barrier and rolled and ejected the driver and passengers.
A post-crash inspection of the vehicle found no mechanical issues with the Jeep, according to police.
Smith has been charged with two counts of homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence, firearms offenses, speeding and related charges.
He was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Margaret A. Hunsicker, who set bail at $100,000 unsecured, with a condition of no driving.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., Feb. 6.
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