CHAMBERSBURG — A Waynesboro man charged with vehicular homicide in the death of his brother last year will have a preliminary hearing in Franklin County Central Court Tuesday.
Manuel Javier Ledezma, 30, is charged with seven felonies, six misdemeanors and a summary traffic offense in connection with the June 9, 2018, crash on I-81 that took the life of his brother Joshua.
Joshua Lee Ledezma was pronounced dead at the scene of the 8:30 p.m. crash that night. He and another passenger were thrown from the car when it went off the road into a ditch and flipped end-over-end before coming to rest on its drivers’ side along a fence.
A truck driver and another motorist who witnessed the crash told police they saw Manuel Ledezma crawl out of the car through the front passenger window after the crash.
Ledezma claimed at the time that a fourth man was driving the car. Emergency responders were looking for that man when state troopers arrived on the scene.
According to court documents, an accident reconstruction team later ruled out the possibility of a fourth occupant in the car.
A passenger in the car, Louis John Camell, was airlifted to York Hospital with injuries from the crash. Manuel Ledezma was taken to Meritus Hospital in Hagerstown. His blood alcohol content was 0.16 when drawn at the hospital two hours later, according to police
Almost a week later, Ledezma told troopers during an interview that somebody named “Rome” was driving that night and that he as actually in the back seat of the car.
He described Rome as a black man around 40 years old.
He said he, his brother and Camell had been drinking the day of the crash and had driven to Chambersburg to help an ex-girlfriend move. Afterward, they drove to a store at Southgate in downtown Chambersburg, then to a housing development behind the strip mall.
It was there they saw Rome, Ledezma told the police. Seeing they were drunk, Rome offered to drive them back to Waynesboro, according to his statement to police.
According to the affidavit filed in the case, Ledezma’s storyline then became confused and full of inconsistencies. He told police Rome wore plastic gloves during the drive. He speculated his brother might have kicked the mysterious Rome out of the car before the crash. He said he didn’t remember much of the drive or the crash, and finally admitted he might have been driving, according to the court filing.
Police said an accident reconstruction by PSP experts determined there were no mechanical or environmental factors involved in the crash.
Ledezma is charged with homicide by vehicle while DUI, aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI (two counts), homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault by vehicle, causing an accident involving death or injury while not licensed, involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, driving with a suspended license and DUI.
