Teen on trial in deaths of woman, unborn child
By Janice Morse
Enquirerstaff totter
LEBANON – If not for a two-second distraction and 15 inches of space, a young Deerfield Township woman and her baby would be alive– and a teen driver wouldn't be accused of killing them.
Those were among the key factors outlined Wednesday in the Warren County Juvenile Court trial of Alex Manoc - chio,16, of Loveland.
Around 10:35 p.m. on June 17, Manocchio took his eyes off the road for two seconds, his lawyer says. The teen, who'd had his driver's license for one day, noticed his cell phone vibrating.
"I picked up my phone to see the name on the screen, and the last thing I saw was the headlights before I hit the lady's car," Manocchio's written statement says.
If Manocchio spent two seconds glancing at the phone, his family's Ford Explorer, traveling at 47 mph, covered about 140 feet, investigators said. In that time and space, the vehicle continued straight instead of curving along Landen Drive in Deerfield Township. The Explorer crashed head-on into Karyn "Nikki" Cordell's Chevy Cavalier, which was traveling 36 mph.
A 15-inch-wide section of the two vehicles collided. Pinned in the wreckage, Cordell, 33 weeks pregnant, told Manocchio someone should call 911. Those were among her last words.
The crash killed Cordell and her unborn son, plunged her loved ones into grief and left Manocchio and his family in turmoil.. The teen faces a permanent license revocation and at least six months in a state juvenile jail if convicted of two delinquency counts of 'aggravated vehicular homicide.
Supporters of Cordell and Manocchio wept quietly in court Wednesday as police testified.
Calculations showed Manocchio was exceeding Lan- E mail j»u»se@enquirer.co rr, Enquirer file Karyn "Nikki " Cordell, 22, was killed in ahead-on car crash in Deerfield Township on June 17. den Drive's35 mph speed limit by 12 mph. But his attorney, Charlie Rittgers, said Manocchio thought the limit was 45 mph; there is no speed limit sign in the 863 feet between the parking lot Manocchio had left and the crash site, state troopers said.
Manocchio's father, Nicholas, testified he had aibshedd Alemx to be careful behind the wheel. But, the father said, "We're in an age where everyone's got a cell phone. I didn't tell him he wasn't allowed to use his cell phone while he was driving."
Prosecutors pointed out other possible factors in the with crash: Manocchio was two friends who could have distracted him. He was driving late at night, and had used marijuana, tests showed.
But Rittgers argued the drug use didn't impair his driving. Manocchio's blood showed a marijuana level of 8.03 nanograms per milliliter – less than one-fifth the level that would constitute legal impairment, Rittgers said.
"Alex Manocchio was inexperienced and he was negligent " but he wasn't reckless, Rittgers said.
Recklessness would mean a felony-level conviction; negligence, a misdemeanor-level conviction with lighter penalties.
Testimony resumes Oct 30 before Judge Mike Powell.
