JMU students killed in crash to receive posthumous academic certificates this weekend
VENN
HARRISONBURG, Va. (WRIC) -- Three James Madison University (JMU) students killed in a car crash in 2023 are being honored by the university this weekend during graduation ceremonies they would've been walking in.
John “Luke” Fergusson of Richmond, Nicholas Troutman of Henrico County and Joshua Mardis of Williamsburg will receive posthumous Academic Achievement Certificates during JMU's graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 17.
The three JMU students killed in the 2023 car crash are Joshua Mardis, Nicholas Troutman and Jonh "Luke" Fergusson.
JMU confirmed the university will give the certificates, but told 8News that they will not be commenting further out of respect for the families.
According to their obituaries, Mardis was studying communications and Troutman business management, while previous reports say Fergusson was studying media arts and design.
The Troutman and Fergusson families said it would be too painful to attend the ceremony but said the the certificate has already been mailed to them.
Mardis’ mother, Yvette Mardis, said she, her husband and daughter plan to be there, and shared this statement:
"Since the loss of our Joshua, Kirk, Haley and I have endured many painful milestones. One of the most painful of these dates has now arrived. Saturday, May 17, 2025, would have been the day he graduated from James Madison University. We will not get to see what Joshua’s future holds as many new graduates celebrate. We are thankful to James Madison University for the Academic Achievement Certificate that our family will be receiving this Saturday in honor of what would have been his graduation."
The driver in the crash, Campbell Ryan Fortune of Henrico County, is currently serving a 90-day sentence in regional jail and will be on probation for seven years, with random drug and alcohol screening. The 21-year-old accepted a plea deal in February for one count of negligent homicide and speeding.
The original charges filed against him on May 15, 2023, included three counts of negligent homicide, one count of reckless driving with injury, one count of underage possession of beer, one count of not having a certificate of insurance and one count of speeding. Fortune pleaded not guilty to all seven charges on May 25, 2023.
Court documents said that on Feb.2, 2023, a group of around 50 men affiliated with the unregistered fraternity Pi Beta Chi (PBX) 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 families of the deceased told 8News in a joint statement that they “strongly oppose” the plea deal, and that was “clearly expressed to the Hardy County Prosecutor [Jeffrey Weatherholt] prior to the plea offer.”
The three families of the victims released the following joint statement after the sentencing:
“The Court’s sentence is the first small measure of justice our families have received in West Virginia since the horrible night we lost our sons. We opposed the plea deal from the beginning. And we knew that nothing that happened today would end our suffering or help us make sense of our terrible losses. But we are grateful to the Court for listening to our families, considering the evidence, and imposing a fair and thoughtful sentence.”
The families are also in the beginning stages of wrongful death suits against PBX.
