Beloit man charged with vehicular manslaughter in fatal Carroll County crash

A Beloit man is facing three counts of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter after an investigation into a two-vehicle, head-on crash in Carroll County revealed he was driving an unsafe vehicle, authorities said Thursday.

Douglas R. Mackey, 54, was charged in Carroll County Municipal Court in Carrollton.

Randy Simmons, 60, of East Liverpool and his teen passengers, Tina Shetler, 18, and Kenneth Shetler, 16, both of Hammondsville, were killed in the April 10 crash that happened along state Route 542 near Dellroy. A fourth passenger survived.

At the time of the accident, the Ohio State Highway Patrol indicated Mackey was a resident of Diana, West Virginia.

Carroll County Prosecutor Steven Barnett said the investigation found that Mackey's vehicle, a 2001 Ford F-650, went left of center and was unsafe. Simmons was driving a 2015 Honda Odyssey.

Fatal crash: Carroll County crash kills driver, two teens

"There is also crash reconstruction evidence that indicated the left front steering tire of the Ford had severe wear patterns that rendered the vehicle unsafe contrary to traffic laws," Barnett said in a written statement.

Both of those violations underlie the vehicular manslaughter charges, he added.

The prosecutor said the investigation found there was no impairment, recklessness or other conduct that would support more serious charges. Ohio law, he said, does not recognize vehicular assault in situations without impairment or recklessness.

Mackey is scheduled to be arraigned in Carroll County Municipal Court at 1 p.m. July 5 before Judge Gary L. Willen. No attorney was listed for Mackey on court documents.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Douglas Mackey facing vehicular manslaughter charges in fatal crash