Crime & Courts

Driver accused of killing a man on a North Carolina road was impaired, police say

A 50-year-old driver, who police say was driving while impaired, was charged with felony death by vehicle after a collision at this North Carolina intersection on Wednesday night, Jan. 7, 2026.
A 50-year-old driver, who police say was driving while impaired, was charged with felony death by vehicle after a collision at this North Carolina intersection on Wednesday night, Jan. 7, 2026. Street View image from August 2023. © 2026 Google

Police charged a 50-year-old man with felony death by vehicle and driving while impaired in a fatal wreck in Gastonia on Wednesday night, court records show.

William Delany McGinnis died in the collision at North Chester Street and Caldwell Street, police said. McGinnis was 44 and lived in Bessemer City, public records show.

Police accused William Richard Moore Jr. of Gastonia of causing the wreck. Moore also was charged with marijuana possession and having no operator’s license, according to court documents. He refused a breath test, an officer said in an arrest warrant in Gaston County District Court.

“The impaired driving offense was the proximate cause of death,” an officer wrote in court documents.

Moore was in the Gaston County jail Thursday without bail, court records showed.

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Joe Marusak
The Charlotte Observer
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
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