Police: Driver in fatal accident on I-70 was driving 118 miles per hour

According to state police, a Fayette City man was traveling at 120 mph earlier this year before he crashed into the back of an Allenport woman on Interstate 70 in Westmoreland County. The woman died when her car burst into flames.

Jacob M. Posey, 22, was charged Friday with involuntary manslaughter and several counts in connection with the March 16 traffic crash in Rostraver Township that left 25-year-old Tori Demo dead on her way to work.

Witnesses saw Posey’s pickup truck drive erratically as it entered I-70 at the Arnold City exit and sped off east before hitting Demo’s car about a half-mile later. The impact caused her vehicle to roll over several times and catch fire, police said.

A witness said he saw Posey driving erratically on Harmony Church Road before turning onto the highway and accelerating rapidly, reaching speeds in excess of 100 mph, police said. Another driver said he saw Posey’s pickup truck “flying through the air and going way too (expletive) fast” shortly before crashing into Demo’s car as she tried to move into the right lane, according to court documents.

Both witnesses attempted to help Demo, who investigators said was “alive, breathing and moaning” while behind the wheel, but the vehicle caught fire and they were unable to get her out of the car. Demo died at the scene of the accident from smoke inhalation and severe burns all over her body, and also suffered “significant” blunt force injuries in the crash, an autopsy found.

Posey stopped his pickup about a quarter-mile from the crash scene but did not return to the scene to render aid, police said. In speaking with investigators, he estimated he was driving about 70 mph at the time of the crash and claimed Demo had moved into his lane. However, a review of the onboard data recorder in Posey’s pickup showed he was driving 118 mph — more than twice the 55 mph speed limit in the area — shortly before the crash, according to court documents.

“The driver was traveling well above the speed limit prior to this collision,” state police wrote in charging documents.

Because of the accident, the motorway was closed in both directions for several hours while the police began their investigations and rescue workers cleared the wreckage from the scene of the accident.

Relatives of Demo previously said she had dropped her mother off at a beauty salon in Mon Valley around 8 a.m. that day and was on her way to a cleaning job in Uniontown. The 2017 California Area High School graduate had joined the Roscoe Lions Club shortly before her death, family members said.

Posey was arraigned on Friday by District Judge John Christner on charges of vehicular manslaughter and released on $50,000 unsecured bail. His preliminary hearing before Christner is tentatively scheduled for July 29 at 10:15 a.m. Posey’s defense attorney, William Brandstetter, politely declined comment Monday.