Vehicles were speeding, swerving, witness says

Trial for second man accused in crash that killed Hannah Thorne continued Tuesday

Kayla Crocker had been out for a drive with a friend and had just turned onto the New Harbour Barrens around suppertime on July 7, 2016, when she noticed the blue Chevy Cobalt.

A couple of cars ahead of her, she said, she saw the Cobalt swerving all over the road, crossing the yellow line one minute, catching gravel the next. Crocker made note of the licence plate and decided to head to the Whitbourne RCMP detachment to report the dangerous driver.

“I was going to give them the description and the plate number and tell them it was either a distracted driver or someone driving under the influence,” Crocker told the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Tuesday. “They were not staying on the road.”

Crocker said she then noticed a red Ford F-150 truck come up behind her, seemingly out of nowhere.

“I had the blue Cobalt in front of me, a few cars ahead, and the red F-150 behind me. The Cobalt pulled out and as soon as he pulled out the F-150 behind me went after him. I was stuck behind a line of cars,” Crocker said.

By the time she got to the next turnoff, the two vehicles were gone.

“They were going pretty fast,” she said. Crocker was testifying at the trial of Steven Mercer, the second man to face the court in connection with the highway crash that killed 18-year-old Hannah Thorne. The crash happened on the New Harbour Barrens, minutes after Crocker had seen the Cobalt and the F-150.

Hannah was a passenger in a Hyundai Accent driven by her grandmother, Gertie Thorne, when the vehicle collided with a red F-150 truck. Hannah died instantly; her grandmother spent two months in hospital recovering from serious injuries.

The truck was badly damaged and in a ditch at the accident scene when police arrived, and driver Brian King admitted to the responding officers he had been behind the wheel.

King eventually pleaded guilty to charges of street racing causing death, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm and negligent driving, and received a four-year jail sentence, minus credit for the time he had spent in jail since his arrest. In an agreed statement of facts entered during his case, King acknowledged he and Mercer had been drag racing.

Mercer, however, has pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal negligence causing death, criminal negligence causing bodily harm, street racing causing death, street racing causing bodily harm and breaching court orders.

Police were originally led to Mercer through the licence plate Crocker had provided to them, discovering it was registered to his girlfriend. She also testified in court Tuesday.

“That’s my car,” she said when shown a picture of the blue Cobalt.

Mercer’s lawyer, Randy Piercey, told the court as Mercer’s trial began Monday morning that the issue at hand is one of identity.