Weddle guilty of 2 counts of DUI Manslaughter in double fatality

The Jackson County Times received the following press release from the State Attorney’s Office for the 14th Judicial Circuit.

A jury Friday night decided David Wayne Weddle is guilty as charged of two counts of DUI Manslaughter for the deaths of two women in a car he struck after running a stop sign in 2021, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Weddle, 60, was also found guilty of DUI with Serious Bodily Injury for causing critical injuries to a man in a third vehicle who was airlifted to Tallahassee for treatment following the Sept. 5, 2021, crash. Circuit Court Judge Ana Maria Garcia set sentencing for May 4.

“All the evidence in this case points to the defendant being drunk, running a stop sign, and killing two people and seriously injuring another,” Assistant Chief 14th Judicial Circuit Prosecutor Mark Graham told jurors. “What’s important is he admitted to the paramedic that he had drank a 12-pack, he admitted to the triage nurse that he had drank a 12-pack.

“The defendant is responsible, hold him accountable.”

Graham called a dozen witnesses, including the surviving victim, and presented evidence proving the defendant was under the influence when he caused the crash.

The testimony and evidence showed Weddle was driving south on El Bethel Church Road toward Hwy. 90 around 2 p.m. The victims were westbound on Hwy. 90 in a Cadillac approaching the intersection. A third vehicle, a Jeep, was eastbound on Hwy. 90 approaching the intersection.

Witnesses and Florida Highway Patrol Trooper L. Battle said Weddle ran the stop sign and struck the passenger’s side of the Cadillac hard enough to push it into eastbound lane, where it hit the Jeep. The impact killed both women in the Cadillac. The Jeep caught fire. Its driver, who had two broken legs, escaped but collapsed.

“In my peripheral vision I see this burgundy car (approaching the highway from El Bethel Road) and he just never stopped, he never stopped,” said the driver of the Jeep. “It hit the side of the (Cadillac) and pushed it over and hit me. It was a bad wreck; it happened so fast.”

One of the first responders at the scene smelled alcohol on the defendant. A 15-pack of Natural Ice – cans scattered in the debris – was in the defendant’s car. The defendant told one medical first responder he had drank a 12-pack and said the same thing to a triage nurse at the hospital.

An expert testified blood drawn with the defendant’s consent about 2 hours after the crash showed his BAC was somewhere between .11 and .15 at the time of the crash. The defendant also took a pain pill before going to church that morning and then a Xanax for anxiety.

Trooper Battle investigated the wreck and later interviewed the defendant, who at that time denied drinking. But the FHP employee who drew blood heard the defendant tell a nurse he had 4 beers. Battle concluded the defendant, while driving under the influence, made no effort to stop and was the sole cause of the wreck.

The defendant testified he went to church that morning, stopped at the store for a slushy for his wife, and returned home. He said he suffers from chronic pain and anxiety and sometimes needs to “drive around” so he left the house after 1 p.m.

He testified that while he drinks 12 to 15 beers every day, he said he had not drunk anything up to the time he left the house. He claimed he did not remember anything that happened after he left to drive to a nearby park to look at wildlife and flowers.

Under cross examination by Graham, the defendant said while he does drink 12-15 beers a day – Natural Ice with a 5.9% alcohol content – he did not know how the 15-pack of it got in his car the day of the wreck.

“So, you don’t know anything basically since leaving the house where your wife was?” Graham asked.

The defendant said he assumed he went to the park he usually visits to enjoy the wildlife and flowers.

“When you T-boned the victims’ car and killed them, were you looking at flowers?” Graham asked.

The jury deliberated for about 40 minutes before returning its guilty verdicts.

Basford thanked the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement for their work on the case.