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Presnell pleads to vehicular homicide
A number of defendants, Monday entered guilty pleas to pending charges in Cocke County Criminal Court. Jacob Presnell, 21, Myers Circle, Newport, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and two counts reckless aggravated assault. The charges stemmed from a single vehicle crash in October, 2015, on Old Asheville Highway. The crash claimed the life of William Durkin, 19, Ivey Way, Dandridge, and injured Presnell and two others. The crash near the Unified Marine facility, closed the road for five hours during the investigation. Presnell, was admitted to the UT Medical Center in serious condition. Two other occupants, Tiffany Hall, 21, Walker Hill Way, Newport and Shawn Sell, 20, Royal Way, Del Rio, were injured when the auto sideswiped a tree. The car was eastbound during a rain storm when it left the left side of the roadway in a curve and sideswiped a tree on the driver's side. The impact spun the car around, and it came to rest in the roadway, headed westbound. Rescue personnel worked for two hours to free the body of the victim from the wreckage. Judge Ben Hooper accepted the open-plea from Presnell, however the court will impose a sentence following a hearing at a later date. A Cocke County man who stole the vehicle of a Newport attorney and then took law officers on a high-speed pursuit last year, pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, aggravated criminal trespass, vandalism, auto burglary, theft over $1,000, reckless endangerment, possession of burglary tools and drug paraphernalia, leaving the scene of an accident and felony evading arrest. Newport police spotted Christopher Williams, 21, Sweetwater Road, Newport, operating the 2010 Cadillac owned by attorney Derrick Whitson, on October 18, 2016. The vehicle had been reported stolen from the Moore Street home of Whitson, just a short time earlier. Officers pursued the auto onto Interstate 40 at a high rate of speed. Williams later said he was traveling at 160 miles per hour during the pursuit.He evaded officers and later crashed into two cars before abandoning the Cadillac and running into a wooded area. Judge Hooper imposed a three year sentence, and also ordered Williams to make restitution for the damage. Eric James Boyd, 40, Gunter Corner Road, Parrottsville, pleaded guilty to theft over $60,000, in connection with the August, 2014 theft of a backhoe owned by Glen Hills Utility Service of Greeneville. It was recovered at the Boyd home. He was given a four year sentence, suspended to the time already served, and the balance will be on probation.
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Return to Today's News Stories - Front PageThursday, April 29, 2021
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Mill Creek Wildfire Update
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Wednesday, April 28, 2021
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Goodbye Smokies?
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