Ex-astronaut charged with murder in car wreck that killed 2
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Astronaut James Halsell Jr. seemed the very definition of someone with the right stuff. An Air Force Academy graduate and decorated test pilot, he commanded or piloted five space shuttle missions. NASA even turned to him for leadership as it was picking up the pieces after the Columbia disaster in 2003.
Now, a decade after his retirement from the space agency, the 59-year-old Halsell's life has taken a shocking turn: He is charged with murder after an early morning car wreck Monday killed two young sisters on a lonely stretch of highway in Alabama.
State police said alcohol and speed may have been factors in the crash. The Tuscaloosa News (http://bit.ly/1t6Gcxp) reported that court documents showed troopers said they found an empty package of sleeping pills and an empty wine bottle in a motel room where Halsell had stayed before the crash.
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It sounds like the young girls were in a car being driven all night as many do on long trips.
Troopers said a vehicle driven by Halsell collided about 2:50 a.m. with a Ford Fiesta in which 11-year-old Niomi Deona James and 13-year-old Jayla Latrick Parler were riding. The girls were thrown from the car and died. Neither was wearing a seat belt.
And at 3:00 AM in the morning they were not wearing their seat belts. Very tragic. Kids should always be strapped in, I can see how on a 12 hour trip or something, these rules might not be always followed.
Shocking story; condolences to these poor young girls. And we will see, Halsell is being charged with murder; so not even manslaughter at this point. Murder must mean intentional.
