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LISBON -- A jury trial set for March 4 against a Columbiana man charged with involuntary manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide and other charges for what became a fatal traffic crash last year has been continued until April 1.
Gerald Jackson, 40, McCloskey Road, appeared Friday in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court for a status hearing for the case, accompanied by his defense attorney, Paul Conn. He was in the custody of sheriff's deputies since he remains jailed under a $150,000 cash or surety bond.
County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Weikart also attended, with both attorneys meeting behind closed doors with Judge Scott Washam before coming back into the courtroom and speaking on the record.
Washam granted the motion for a continuance filed by Conn, who cited ongoing negotiations and discovery received last week. He supported coming back in a few weeks.
"There's a possibility we may resolve this case," Conn said.
Weikart had no problem with the continuance, acknowledging a lot of material that was recently provided to the defense and a reconstruction report just done in the past two weeks.
A new status hearing was scheduled for 3:15 p.m. March 22.
Jackson had already been indicted for the crash when a superseding indictment was issued with more serious charges after one of the victims, Jennifer Hunley, 47, of Hanoverton, died. The other victim, a juvenile male, was seriously injured.
Charges against Jackson include involuntary manslaughter and aggravated vehicular homicide, both first-degree felonies; aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular assault, both second-degree felonies; misdemeanors of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or a combination of both, two counts operating a vehicle while under the influence of a listed controlled substance or listed metabolite of a controlled substance and driving under suspension, fourth-degree felonies of grand theft of a motor vehicle and two counts receiving stolen property, third-degree felonies of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer and vehicular assault, fifth-degree felony vandalism and misdemeanor attempted breaking and entering.
Jackson allegedly stole a truck belonging to Donald Pitts on Aug. 6, 2023 on U.S. Route 30, Hanoverton, fled from a sheriff's deputy attempting a traffic stop after seeing the truck that had been reported stolen and crashed the truck in a head-on collision in Hanover Township, injuring two people in the other vehicle, including Hunley and the juvenile. After the crash, Jackson fled on foot and was found hiding in a nearby field and taken into custody.
The superseding indictment alleged that Jackson caused Hunley's death while driving recklessly and committing offenses of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer and theft of a motor vehicle. He was also accused of causing her death while driving impaired and causing injury to the other victim while impaired.
The charges for OVI alleged he had methamphetamine and marijuana in his system also at the time of the crash.
Some of the charges alleged that he caused physical harm to property owned by Simon Automotive, had a stolen 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 belonging to Gotch and Company and had a stolen 2007 Lincoln Town Car belonging to Old School Classic LLC, all on Aug. 6, 2023.