Search warrant outlines more details in August ATV crash investigation
Ashley Darity was arrested in February in relation to the deaths of two Rosman High School teens last August.
A search warrant from last September has made public more details regarding the investigation into the deaths of two Rosman High School teens last August. Court records also indicate additional charges and plea agreements for some individuals who have allegedly been involved in the fatal incident.
Jayden Reynaldo and Layne Jones died when they crashed the ATV they were riding into a tree in the early hours of the morning Aug. 25 while attending a house party on Old Wagon Road in Balsam Grove.
In February new information was released following the arrests of Ashley Darity, Brandon Rathbone and Patricia Whitehead which indicated the two teens were drinking alcohol shortly before the crash and alleged the three adults played a part in providing teens with drinks at the party.
Darity was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths after she allegedly provided the two minors with alcohol and was indicted by a grand jury in February.
On March 18 Darity was indicted by a grand jury again, this time on a misdemeanor charge of aiding and abetting a person under the age of 21 with the purchase of alcohol. The incident date filed matches the date of the party.
On March 11 Whitehead and Rathbone both pleaded guilty to one charge each of purchasing alcohol for underage persons.
The charges Rathbone and Whitehead were facing were not directly linked to the ATV crash but occurred in prior years.
Both have been sentenced to attend an alcohol safety course and 24 hours of community service.
The search warrant, filed Sept. 4 by NCALE Special Agent David Miller, sought to ascertain the identity of an Ingles shopper who purchased an 18-pack of Twisted Tea.
The search warrant says that Miller, through interviewing other Rosman High School students, ascertained that Reynaldo and Jones were at a house party hosted by Rathbone on the night of the crash. Rathbone lives on the same gravel road where the fatal crash occurred.
The search warrant says Reynaldo showed up to the party with two other 16-year-olds and was carrying the 18-pack of Twisted Tea.
The two other teens came to the party with liquor and other malt beverages.
In the narrative of the warrant, Miller, through his investigation, deduced that the Twisted Tea was likely purchased at Ingles Market No. 67 in Brevard on the day of the accident.
Through reviewing transaction reports and security camera footage, Miller found footage of an unidentified male purchasing an 18-pack of Twisted Tea at around 7:25 p.m. Saturday night.
The man used the self checkout lanes and when the register prompted the cashier for age verification, the cashier did not check the man’s ID, but entered in a generic date of birth for the sale.
The man used his Ingles Advantage Card number when checking out and the purpose of the search warrant was to ascertain the owner of the loyalty card to find out who the unidentified man was.
When The T. Times initially spoke with North Carolina State Troopers the day of the incident, an officer told the paper there were no signs of alcohol consumption.
However, the warrant indicates NCALE had been a part of the investigation from the start and information from the medical examiner had come out the day of the accident which indicated at least one of the victims had consumed alcohol that night.
Three other search warrants were issued around the same time for phone records from AT&T, Verizon and Snap, Inc. but have not been made available at this time.
