Dump truck owner sent to prison in crash that killed pregnant Lansdale woman

NORRISTOWN — During an emotion-filled hearing at which grieving relatives of a pregnant Lansdale woman who was killed in a two-vehicle crash confronted him in court, the owner of a dump truck involved in the crash learned he’ll spend up to seven years in prison.

“This truck should not have been on the road. It was unsafe. The defendant’s actions represent an extreme indifference to the value of human life,” Montgomery County Judge Risa Vetri Ferman said on Monday as she sentenced Patrick Hadley Doran to 3½ to 7 years in state prison for his role in the Aug. 25, 2022, head-on crash along Park Avenue in Lower Providence that killed 31-year-old Kellie Adams, of Lansdale, and her unborn baby Emersyn Grace Adams.

“This crash was preventable, avoidable and predictable,” said Ferman, adding Doran’s actions “started a chain of events” that ended with “two souls lost … This family is broken because of you, sir.”

The sentence was the maximum term allowable under state law for the felony charge of homicide by vehicle, to which Doran pleaded guilty earlier this year.

Doran, who also goes by the name Jacob Fury, admitted that he allowed the truck that he owned for his paving business to be operated on the roadway in violation of numerous requirements of the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code. Specifically, prosecutors alleged the truck was not properly registered or titled, inspected or insured and should have never been on the roadway.

The hearing included heartbreaking and tearful testimony from Adams’ husband, Jason, and her parents, Dean and Cindy Miller.

Calling Kellie his “best friend and love of my life,” Jason Adams, a firefighter, recalled the pain and trauma of responding to the scene of the crash and seeing its aftermath, “an experience that has left a permanent mark on my emotional well-being.”

“The pain we have endured since that day is immeasurable, a constant ache that serves as a painful reminder of the irreplaceable void their absence leaves. Patrick, the impact of your choices has resonated through my life in profound and heart-wrenching ways,” said Jason Adams, addressing Doran directly, adding he was thrust into a role he never anticipated, that of a single parent raising two little boys, ages 5 and 2, “without their mother’s love and guidance.”

“The void left by the loss of their mother and unborn sister is a pain that cuts deep that no child should ever have to bear,” Jason Adams said.

Tearfully, Jason Adams recalled having to return home to tell his 5-year-old son that his mother and sister went to heaven and weren’t coming home.

“I hear his scream in my head every day,” said Jason Adams, also explaining that because of Doran’s actions, “I met my daughter by holding her deceased body.”

Choking back tears, Dean Miller said “the weight of this tragedy is unbearable.”

“Our lives have been forever altered, a pain that words can’t express. The far-reaching impact of losing our daughter Kellie and granddaughter Emersyn is immeasurable. Our family, our roles, our future — all have been changed irrevocably,” Dean Miller testified, adding the loss of Kellie and Emersyn “is a heartless theft from our lives … The joy of watching Kellie raise Emersyn, the sound of their laughter, these are memories forever lost.”

Kellie Adams, who was 8-months pregnant at the time of the crash, was a 2009 graduate of North Penn High School and was a middle and high school teacher at Cottage Seven Academy in Phoenixville.

“Kellie’s selflessness was boundless, touching countless lives. Her absence leaves a void that ripples through our community, impacting those she supported, taught, coached, cared for and loved without limits. Our family’s bonds have been severed, replaced by a new reality we never asked for,” Dean Miller said. “The foundation of our family has crumbled under the weight of this tragedy.”

Cindy Miller said she feels the void left by her daughter’s absence “and the thought of her two young sons growing up without their loving mother and the chance to meet their baby sister, is a heavy burden to bear.”

“Every moment of that fateful day is etched in my memory like a haunting nightmare,” Cindy Miller told the judge. “Just fifteen minutes before the crash, I had spoken to Kellie, not knowing those would be our last words exchanged. The suddenness of Kellie and Emersyn’s deaths, and the cruel finality of it all, has left a wound in my heart that will never fully heal.”

With the charges, prosecutors alleged Doran permitted an unsafe vehicle to be operated on the road and that had he followed state regulations as well as Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and ensured that the operator of the truck was fit to drive that the crash could have been avoided.

The driver of the dump truck, Everett James Clayton, 56, of Charleston, W. Va., is awaiting an October trial on charges of third-degree murder, third-degree murder of an unborn child, homicide by vehicle, careless and reckless driving and speeding in connection with the fatal crash.

With the charges against Clayton, detectives alleged he operated the Ford F650 XLT Super Duty dump truck with “extreme recklessness and carelessness at a speed in excess that he failed to maintain control of his vehicle.” Clayton failed to enter into a curve at a speed which would have permitted him to maintain control of the vehicle and crossed the center of the roadway and entered into the opposite lane of travel, striking Kellie Adams’ vehicle.

First Assistant District Attorney Edward F. McCann Jr. sought an aggravated sentence for Doran, one that included state prison time. McCann argued that like his truck, Doran’s paving business was operated without regard for regulations or safety.

For example, McCann said, Doran met Clayton in Virginia while Clayton was homeless, offered him a job and allowed him to drive the work truck, the first time that Clayton had driven a vehicle that size. Doran allowed a near stranger to operate the massive, uninspected truck so that he could make a profit, McCann argued. Clayton’s only instructions from Doran were to keep up with the pickup truck he was following to the next jobsite, McCann alleged.

“He allows him to go behind the wheel of a truck, a lethal weapon. The sheer weight of this truck and lack of action by the defendant put an entire community at risk as Clayton drove from job to job. As a result, two lives were lost. This defendant’s actions and his co-defendant’s actions ripped a hole in the family and the community,” said McCann, who handled the case with co-prosecutor Gabrielle Hughes.

Doran, at times, appeared to wipe tears from his eyes as Adams’ relatives expressed their grief. Before learning his fate from the judge, Doran apologized to the family.

“I’m deeply, deeply sorry. I really, really, really am sorry that this ever happened. My heart goes out to you every day. I’m very remorseful,” Doran said.

Doran, who was born in Ireland and once lived in England, is not a U.S. citizen and his conviction will trigger deportation proceedings in the future.

Defense lawyer Basil Beck III argued against an aggravated sentence saying that treating Doran the same as Clayton would be “unjust.”

“My client did not mean for this to happen. My client’s culpability level is low. My client is the one who is not as culpable as the driver. Was he careless? Yes,” said Beck, arguing Doran’s actions were not “nefarious.”

The investigation began about 2:59 p.m. Aug 25, when Lower Providence police responded to a report of a two-vehicle crash with entrapment in the 500 block of South Park Avenue in the Audubon section of the township.

Arriving officers determined the crash involved the 2003 dump truck operated by Clayton, who was not injured, and a 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe operated by Adams, who was trapped in her vehicle. Adams died at the scene and her baby was later stillborn, according to court documents.

An autopsy determined the cause of death was blunt impact injuries to both Adams and her unborn child.

Lower Providence police crash reconstruction experts determined Clayton was traveling southbound on South Park Avenue and Adams was traveling northbound at the time of the crash.

The roadway has a posted 40 mph speed limit and vehicles approaching a curve in the southbound direction pass a posted traffic control warning indicator advising of the curve with a recommended speed of 25 mph, according to the arrest affidavit filed by Lower Providence Police Sergeant Ryan Singleton.

Clayton’s southbound truck was traveling through the curve in the roadway, was unable to maintain his lane of travel and crossed the double yellow line, entered the northbound lanes and struck Adams’ vehicle head-on, police alleged.

“Investigators determined this was caused by the size of the Clayton vehicle traveling at a speed too great for the curve radius,” Singleton alleged. “This impact was of such a violent nature that it stopped all forward momentum of the Adams vehicle and displaced it fully off the roadway into a field.”

The investigation determined the dump truck’s registration had expired in June 2022. Investigators also determined the registration was issued to a Philadelphia concrete company whose owner subsequently advised police that he had sold the truck to another man in July 2022, according to the arrest affidavit. Investigators alleged Doran used an alias to purchase the truck and failed to legally transfer the vehicle ownership and properly register the vehicle into his name or his company’s name.

The investigation revealed the dump truck did not have a current Pennsylvania inspection and the vehicle displayed an expired 2019 New Jersey state inspection sticker, according to court papers.

After a post-crash inspection of the truck, investigators concluded there were no mechanical problems or failures that could have contributed to the crash. However, authorities concluded the vehicle would not have passed Pennsylvania inspection requirements for several reasons, the most notable failure related to the difference in the diameter of both sets of rear dual tires which “could  lead to lateral stability issues when rapid steering input is applied,” investigators alleged.

Investigators added the truck’s passenger side front brake had overspray from painting the wheels of the truck on the brake rotor, causing contamination that “would have placed the truck out of service,” according to the criminal complaint.

The violations discovered during the inspections are the responsibility of both the owner and operator, authorities alleged. The owner is required to ensure the vehicle is maintained and in compliance with all state and federal regulations, police said.

“Since this vehicle has a gross weight over 17,001 pounds the operator is required to ensure that the vehicle is inspected, has proper registration and insurance and is in safe operational condition prior to operating the vehicle on the roadway,” Singleton alleged.