Trial begins for Norfolk driver in wreck that killed 3

NORFOLK

A group of four men and four young women met at the Oceanfront one night in August last year, and decided to get a hotel room, drink and party, witnesses agree.

After the party was over, a prosecutor told a jury on Monday, a drunken Craig A. Watson drove recklessly and crashed his friend's car, killing three passengers.

But Watson's defense attorney told jurors that a front-seat passenger jerked the wheel and swung the car into a deadly path.

Watson, 32, went on trial Monday for three counts of aggravated involuntary manslaughter in the Aug. 11, 2010, crash. Paris Shorter, 18; Marquita S. Walker, 19; and Karnell W. Faulkner, 29, were killed.

Three other people, including Watson, were injured when the car ripped through a guard rail and into a group of trees in the 1800 block of E. Indian River Road.

Watson faces additional charges related to the crash. Prosecutors have also charged him with driving while intoxicated, driving with a revoked license, purchasing alcohol for a minor and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

The charges are scheduled to be tried at separate trials.

On Monday, prosecutor Patricia O'Boyle said passengers in the car screamed at Watson to slow down as the speedometer climbed to 110 mph. When emergency workers arrived at the scene, O'Boyle said, "they could hardly tell it was a car."

Blood drawn from Watson after the crash showed he had a blood alcohol content more than three times the 0.08 percent legal limit for driving, she said.

Defense attorney Herman Smith said Watson did not want to drive, but Faulkner, his friend and the owner of the car, insisted. Watson navigated the streets of Virginia Beach for several miles without incident until the crash, he said.

"This case is about a tragic, sad accident," Smith told jurors.

Kimberly White, one of the four young women in the hotel room, testified that she did not feel comfortable at the party and did not drink. She volunteered to drive the others to her sister's home in Virginia Beach, where she would leave and let someone else drive them to their next destination, she testified. Watson replaced her behind the wheel there, she said.

The parents of the three victims also testified about their children. Robert Shorter, father of Paris, said his daughter had planned to go to cosmetology school in the fall. She was his only child, he said, and the two had lived together.

Shorter told jurors he spoke to Paris on her cell phone about 11:30 that night. She had just turned 18, he testified, and he had granted her a little more freedom. He told her not to stay out too late.

O'Boyle showed an autopsy photo of Paris Shorter to her father. He winced and turned his head.

"Is that your daughter, Mr. Shorter?" she asked.

He looked back at the photo: "Yes."

Louis Hansen, (757) 446-2341, louis.hansen@pilotonline.com