Manslaughter trial against Waterfield begins; set to continue today

By Linda Cicoira

     A jury trial got underway Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court for an Oak Hall resident charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with a one-vehicle crash that killed a young mother and injured her daughter and boyfriend last April. 

     Thirty-six-year-old Jessica Greenley Waterfield told the court she did not know how long she had taken her eyes off the road. The defendant said her toddler was in the back seat and was possibly choking on mucus from sinus issues. Waterfield had taken one hand off the steering wheel and was trying to push up her three-year-old daughter’s head.

     “Emory started coughing,” Waterfield said. “She sounded like she was starting to choke … I reached back and tried to touch her toes. I tried to reach her head to open her airway … I couldn’t reach her. As I was turning back around, I heard the front end of the car hit something.”

      Waterfield said the airbag went off and hit her in the neck. She did not know what happened until she got out of the car. She never saw 26-year-old Erika Cherrelle Bailey, Bailey’s boyfriend, 39-year-old Duane Lee Turner, or Bailey’s seven-year-old daughter before she struck them with her 2021 Honda Pilot. Bailey was thrown across Nock’s Landing Road killing her on impact. Turner and the girl suffered serious bodily injuries and landed in the ditch. 

     There was no dispute that Waterfield was going 57 mph in a 40-mph zone, and was approaching a 25-mph zone in a residential area. Officers testified it was a clear day and the road was straightaway. Sensors in the vehicle showed she was going about 55 mph on impact, she had not used her breaks or veered off the road.

     Waterfield said she was driving that path to go to her parent’s house to eat dinner, something she did five days a week.

     Katie Farrell, a prosecution witness, was driving in the opposite direction when she passed Waterfield’s SUV.  She testified that the sun was in her face and she “heard an explosion” and “saw stuff flying.” She pulled over and got out and saw the man and child in the ditch. “At first, I didn’t really know what (had) happened.” 

     Turner said the three were at his mother’s house and had decided to take a walk. The child was on a bicycle. They got to the end of the driveway and saw the car coming and stayed to the right with him in the lead and the child on the inside. 

     “When I got hit, I didn’t know what was going on,” Turner testified. He saw the child on the ground and looked for his girlfriend. “I couldn’t find her. … I looked down the street and I saw her lying there. I ran down there to her. I turned her over and tried to get her to respond. She never responded. I was just holding her trying to get her to respond.” He said the ambulance came. “I can’t really can’t remember too much after that.”

Three character witnesses testified to Waterfield’s reputation for honesty and integrity.

Waterfield pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter count and a misdemeanor charge of careless driving. Another misdemeanor, reckless driving, was not prosecuted because Morgan said the two could not be tried simultaneously.

     Both Morgan and defense lawyer Tom Northam presented their cases. Northam unsuccessfully motioned for the charges to be dismissed saying the prosecution had not shown wanton disregard for life. He also argued that the victims were on the wrong side of the road and should have been walking towards traffic. The day ended with the two lawyers speaking to Visiting Judge Tanya Bullock about jury instructions. 

    Today is expected to start with closing statements before the jury deliberates.

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