Chandler Michael Kania, 20, faces a litany of charges, second-degree murder chiefly among them, for a car crash early Sunday morning that left three dead.
Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall charged Kania with three counts each of second-degree murder and death by motor vehicle, as well as several charges related to driving while drunk and consuming alcohol as a minor, WRAL reported.
A student at the University of North Carolina (UNC) - Chapel Hill, Kania appeared in court in a wheelchair due to injuries he sustained in the wreck. District Judge Charles Anderson set bond at $1 million at a hearing held after Kania was released from the hospital. Kania will have to wear an electronic monitor if he posts the bond and he will have a curfew from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
According to the Raleigh News and Observer, Woodall said Kania used a false ID at more than one bar and that his friends tried to take his car keys from him. Around 3 a.m. Sunday, Kania drove north down the southbound direction of Insterstate-85 when he hit another car head-on.
Felecia Harris, 49; Darlene McGee, 46; and Jahnice Baird, 6; died instantly, but Jahnia King, 9, survived with critical injuries and has since been released from the hospital, the Observer reported.
"The Kania family is absolutely devastated about this tragedy. Their hearts and prayers and thoughts are with the victims and their families," Roger Smith Jr., Kania's attorney, said in a statement. "Chandler is fully cooperating with law enforcement and will continue to do so."
