VIRGINIA BEACH — A Norfolk man who was driving the furniture truck that struck an SUV carrying two Chesapeake high school seniors in 2017, killing one and critically injuring the other, will serve 47 years in prison for the crime.
Jerode Demetrius Johnson, 32, was sentenced Monday for aggravated involuntary manslaughter, DUI-Maiming (victim permanently injured), hit-and-run, possession of cocaine, DUI, and suspended operator’s license, charges he pleaded guilty to in May, according to the Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Johnson, who was driving a delivery box truck, lost control while traveling down Indian River Road at 3:19 p.m. on May 19, 2017 and swerved into the oncoming traffic lane, “striking a car driven by 18-year-old high school student Kaitlyn Duffy head on.”
Duffy was killed in the crash. Her passenger, Sabrina Mundorff, 18, “was severely and permanently injured.”
Both were seniors at Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake. The impact was primarily on the driver’s side of Duffy’s vehicle.
Duffy and Mundorff had been at the beach that day. She had taken her new pet there. The puppy was in the back seat, and also died.
Johnson’s father, James Brunson, who was also his co-worker, was a passenger in the furniture truck.
Prosecutors said Johnson crawled out of the truck after the crash and was seen “pacing and checking on his father.”
He then went to Duffy’s vehicle while a passerby was attending to the girls.
According to court documents, Johnson ran behind a nearby home when police and medics arrived at the scene. He was detained a short time later.
Police noted in their report that Johnson “smelled of alcohol,” and had all the signs of being intoxicated.
On the way to jail, Johnson asked to be taken to the hospital, where his blood was drawn.
“Medical records show that the defendant had cocaine in his system and a .13 ethanol serum level, which is the equivalent of .10 to .11 blood alcohol level,” according to court papers.
He also had alcohol and marijuana in his blood. Prosecutors said a forensic toxicologist would have testified that Johnson’s “blood alcohol level at the time of the crash was between .12 and .16 — the legal limit for driving in Virginia is 0.08.
The forensic toxicologist also “would testify that cocaine, marijuana and Valium would exacerbate those adverse effects,” according to court papers.
Authorities said Johnson’s driver’s license also was suspended at the time of the crash.
A bag of cocaine was found behind a tree the next day in the area where the Johnson was seen emerging from the brush near the scene of the crash.
