Dump truck driver facing charges from fatal crash

From staff reports
Published: May 1, 2008

The driver of a dump truck involved in a fatal accident July 17 in Louisa County has been indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges.
Jerome J. Booker Jr., 38, was charged with three felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving in indictments handed down in March by a grand jury. Thomas A. Garrett Jr., Louisa commonwealth’s attorney, said Thursday that Booker is scheduled for a jury trial in August.
According to the Virginia State Police, Booker was driving a dump truck July 17 north on U.S. 15. The dump truck swerved to avoid a pickup stopped to make a turn, police said, but hit a 1994 GMC van head-on in the southbound lane.
Keezletown residents Gary Allan Dovel, 51, and Martha Street Dovel, 50, were in the front seats of the van, authorities said. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said their son, 19-year-old Scott Frederick Dovel, and his girlfriend, 17-year-old Brielle Nicole Nelson, also were in the van. Both were taken to the University of Virginia Medical Center, where Nelson died the next day.
Authorities said everyone in the van was wearing seat belts.
Julie Paul, one of the Dovels’ children, declined to comment Thursday on Booker’s indictments.
Gary Dovel was the owner of Shen Valley Band, a Harrisonburg-based store that rents and repairs musical instruments. Nelson, who was from Harrisonburg, was a Spotswood High School cheerleader.
Booker, who was uninjured in the accident, originally was charged with reckless driving and failure to wear a seat belt. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison on each involuntary manslaughter charge.
The Palmyra resident could not be reached for comment.
Booker is the son of Mozell H. Booker, a Fluvanna County supervisor representing the Fork Union district.
“My son has gone through hell with this tragic accident,” she said Thursday.