Newport
Amber King was arraigned Monday afternoon in Newport District Court on felony charges of negligent homicide and aggravated driving while intoxicated.
Based on statements police say King made from her hospital bed shortly after the Saturday afternoon crash, police believe she had taken several types of drugs within 24 hours of the crash, including ingesting “one bag” of heroin about 3½ hours before the crash.
Meanwhile, police identified Amanda Grasso as the woman who died as a result of injuries she sustained in the crash, which took place near Tractor Supply on Main Street, known as Route 103, in Claremont. King’s husband, Jacob King, 35, and Jody Metcalf, 37, were also passengers in the vehicle and were transported to the hospital.
Sullivan County Attorney Marc Hathaway, whose office is prosecuting the case, said Jacob King has since been released from the hospital.
Metcalf, who was listed with life-threatening injuries, is still hospitalized but is improving, Hathaway said.
King has a probable cause hearing scheduled for May 2 in Claremont District Court.
According to an affidavit written by state police Trooper Stephen Lee, King was traveling eastbound on Main Street when she crossed the center line into the westbound lane, striking an embankment and telephone pole. King’s 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee flipped and landed on its roof in the eastbound lane.
Grasso, who King said was in the back seat of the vehicle, was ejected and landed in the Sugar River. She was pronounced dead 45 minutes after the crash.
Police said they recovered “numerous” pieces of evidence of drug use at the crash site.
Police said they found at least two cans of Dust-Off, an aerosol often used as an inhalant for intoxicating effects; two empty bottles of Buprenorphine, a narcotic pain reliever, prescribed to Metcalf; as well as a glass pipe used for smoking crack cocaine, hypodermic needles, a spoon and cotton swabs.
Police said they found no evidence of steering or braking, which indicated that King did not attempt to avoid the crash.
In addition, the speedometer was stuck at 118 mph, according to the affidavit.
King told police she and the three passengers in the car had been “driving around” and were hanging out on “the riverside near the (Claremont) Speedway” that afternoon, according to the affidavit. She said they were headed back to her and her husband’s Belding Street residence at the time of the crash.
King told police the accident could have been a result of a “vehicle defect.”
In response to police questioning, King said she hadn’t had any alcohol that day, but had smoked marijuana at 2 a.m. Saturday, according to the affidavit. She told police she took Suboxone and Lorazepam on Friday and had used cocaine about a week prior to the crash, according to the affidavit. She also told police she snorted “one bag” of heroin on the morning of the car accident.
She denied being impaired at the time of the incident, according to police.
Lee, the state police trooper who wrote the affidavit, said he conducted several tests on King in her hospital bed about 90 minutes after the crash, according to the affidavit.
Lee wrote that King’s eyelids were droopy, and she would respond only after he yelled her name loudly several times. Her pupils were constricted, a sign that she had narcotics in her system, and her eyes were “glassy” and bloodshot, he wrote.
Lee also interviewed Jacob King about the crash.
He told police a different story regarding what the four had been doing prior to the crash, saying they went to visit his friend in Charlestown, took a trip to Springfield, Vt., and were on their way to the couple’s home at the time of the crash.
He remembers the wheel “fluttering” just prior to the crash. He told police he and his wife snorted “one line” of heroin about 90 minutes prior to the crash. He also told police he didn’t think his wife was impaired.
“Based on the roadway, vehicle and drug evidence gathered at the collision scene, Amber King’s statements regarding her drug use, and the physical signs and symptoms of impairment that I observed during the interview, I developed the opinion that she was impaired and unfit to safely operate a motor vehicle,” Lee wrote in the police affidavit.
In addition, he wrote, “There is probable cause to believe that Amber King committed the offense of negligent homicide.”
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.