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RALEIGH The N.C. State Highway Patrol this morning announced that 12 people – mostly teenagers – face alcohol-related charges in connection with a car crash that killed an 18-year-old high school student in Johnston County this month.
Cleveland High School student William Lee Tippett, 18, of Garner died Feb. 16 in a single car crash in the Cleveland community.
Tippett was a passenger in the vehicle. The driver, Bryan Davis Gilmore, 17, of Smithfield, was charged with felony death by vehicle, driving while impaired and reckless driving.
Gilmore was also charged with underage possession of a malt beverage and possession of one half ounce or less of marijuana, the Highway Patrol reported.
Agents with the N.C. Department of Public Safety’s Alcohol Law Enforcement Division launched an investigation after the crash to determine how Gilmore managed to consume alcohol.
The investigators determined that alcohol was provided to Gilmore the night before the crash by a 21-year-old Clayton man who has been charged with 16 counts of aid and abet underage persons in purchasing and possessing more than 60 malt beverages on Feb. 15, the patrol announced today.
ALE agents also charged a 16-year-old with 11 counts of aid and abet underage persons in possessing malt beverages, underage possession of a malt beverage, underage purchase of a malt beverage, and possession of one half ounce or less of marijuana. ALE agents think the teen paid for a portion of the malt beverages and hosted an underage party at his home.
Nine teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18 who were present at the party also were cited for underage drinking and misdemeanor marijuana possession violations, the patrol reported.
