Driver in crash that killed three JMU students to be sentenced Tuesday
VENN
HARDY COUNTY, W. Va. (WRIC) -- The driver charged in connection to a car crash that killed three James Madison University (JMU) students is slated to be sentenced on Tuesday, April 22. This comes over two years after the crash on Feb. 2, 2023.
Campbell Ryan Fortune of Henrico County will be sentenced for one count of negligent homicide and speeding -- both misdemeanor charges. In West Virginia, where the crash took place, negligent homicide is punishable by up to one year in regional jail or a $100 to $1,000 fine. Speeding is punishable by an up to $100 fine.
The 21-year-old was originally facing seven charges, including three counts of negligent homicide, before the plea deal was made in February of this year.
Fortune was charged after crashing into a tree along West Virginia Route 259 in Hardy County. He was 19 at the time.
Nineteen-year-old John “Luke” Fergusson of Richmond, 19-year-old Nicholas Troutman of Henrico County, and 20-year-old Joshua Mardis of Williamsburg all died at the scene.
The three JMU students killed in the 2023 car crash are Joshua Mardis, Nicholas Troutman and Jonh "Luke" Fergusson, respectively.
Court documents said that on the night of the crash, a group of around 50 men affiliated with the Pi Beta Chi fraternity drove 45 minutes from JMU to the Paradise City Gentlemen’s Club in Hardy County.
After spending an hour there, the group headed back to campus. Fortune crashed going 95 miles per hour just four miles from the club, according to court documents.
Court documents also say Fortune did not have alcohol in his system, but witnesses saw him smoking marijuana and investigators later found nitrous oxide, or "whippets," on the driver’s side floorboard.
The three families of the students killed say they told Hardy County Prosecutor Jeffrey Weatherholt that they were against a plea deal.
The families shared the following in a joint statement:
"The Troutman, Fergusson, and Mardis families strongly oppose the plea deal, which was clearly expressed to the Hardy County Prosecutor prior to the plea offer. Allowing Mr. Fortune to plead No Contest to one count of negligent homicide (a misdemeanor charge) for three deaths and reducing reckless driving to a speeding charge diminishes the gravity of this tragedy and is unfathomable to our families.”
The Hardy County Commission of West Virginia Facebook page posted that it will appoint a new county prosecutor on April 23 after Weatherholt filed to resign from the position.
The families of the victims will be at Fortune's sentencing hearing and are expected to present letters to the judge. It’s scheduled to start at 2 p.m. in Hardy County Circuit Court.
