Morgan Lynn Johnson’s life was headed in a great direction.
The 26-year-old had married her partner, Haley Crabtree Johnson, in December, and they planned to soon start a family.
After several years in Blacksburg, the Hampton natives decided to return to the Peninsula to be closer to their own families as they began their own. They were set to close on a new home in Newport News in June.
After spending all day packing in Blacksburg on May 26, the Johnsons and several relatives ran a four-vehicle caravan back to Hampton Roads that Memorial Day weekend.
“We were all very excited for them to start their own family,” said Morgan’s mother, Rose Johnson Paul, 59, of Hampton. “I talked to Morgan all throughout the day, not knowing that would be the last time I ever talked to my daughter.”
About 20 minutes from home, Morgan’s 1998 Chevy Silverado pickup was struck from behind by a 2010 Volvo SUV on Interstate 64 near Fort Eustis, in Newport News.
The pickup veered to the right, struck a guardrail and flipped multiple times, landing on its roof. Johnson was wearing a seat belt, but died at the scene.
The Volvo’s driver, Gregory Todd Pugh Jr., 30, was uninjured. The Hampton resident was charged with reckless driving, driving on a suspended license and failing to have insurance.
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Family wants increased charges
Now, Johnson’s relatives want prosecutors to upgrade the misdemeanor reckless driving count to manslaughter. Reckless driving, they contend, amounts to a glorified speeding ticket.
“He killed someone, you know?” said Morgan’s sister, Chelsie Johnson Schrum, 33. “To me it’s black and white. You weren’t supposed to be on the road, and you killed somebody. To me, that’s manslaughter … not a traffic infraction.”
“What I want is accountability,” Morgan’s mother added.
Haley Johnson, 24, said she would be upset if the charges are not upgraded.
“That would be absolutely devastating,” she said, saying keeping the charges as is would make it appear “that they don’t care that a life was lost.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, said that every few years in the Virginia General Assembly, a lawmaker puts in a bill to enhance criminal liability for fatal crashes. That typically follows a wreck in which a lawmaker’s constituent has lost a loved one on the road, he said.
But though several states have increased criminal liability for fatal crashes, Virginia has not.
“I think the reason that it hasn’t really caught on in Virginia is that we typically base the punishment on the level of intentional conduct, not necessarily the outcome,” Surovell said. “People make simple mistakes while driving cars all the time.”
Some cars are safer than others, he said, and whether someone lives or dies can turn on such factors as someone’s physical condition or whether or not they wore a seat belt. A healthy teen, for example, might walk away from a wreck that could kill an older person.
“How fair is it to hold a driver at fault for all the different variables that can cause a death?” Surovell asked.
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Manslaughter vs. Reckless Driving
Involuntary manslaughter in Virginia — a felony punishable by up to 10 years — is typically reserved for crashes involving such behavior as racing, driving at high speeds or driving under the influence. The charge can be “aggravated,” and the sentence doubled, when someone shows a “wanton” and “reckless disregard for human life.”
Reckless driving is a lesser crime, defined as operating a motor vehicle “so as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person.” It’s a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. Standard jail policies, moreover, would cut any resulting jail term in half.
Drivers who cause fatal accidents can also be charged with a rarely used “felony reckless driving” count — but only if their license was already suspended on past moving violations. (That doesn’t apply here, as Pugh’s license was suspended for failing to carry insurance rather than prior driving charges, police have told Johnson’s family).
Pugh could not be reached last week. His attorney, Timothy Clancy, declined to comment — and said his client would have no comment — on the case scheduled for an Oct.22 hearing in Newport News General District Court.
Meantime, Johnson’s family has a Thursday meeting scheduled with Newport News prosecutors where the family plans to press for the upgraded charge.
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Crash report
The State Police report into the May 26 crash estimates Pugh was driving about 75 mph in a 65 mph zone when he struck Johnson, who was driving her loaded pickup about 55 mph.
Paul said investigators weren’t able to salvage black boxes from the vehicles to “confirm the speeds,” but she said police and prosecutors were still considering ways to determine whether those speed estimates are accurate.
Neither drugs nor alcohol were factors in the crash, the State Police report said. A trooper told Johnson’s family that there were no indicators at the scene — such as slurred speech, open containers or the smell of alcohol — to warrant a sobriety or breath test.
Johnson’s family contends sobriety tests should be mandated in all fatal wrecks, given that a driver’s impairment could go undetected by sight and smell.
But Surovell said it’s unconstitutional to require a sobriety check without probable cause — and that a fatal crash alone does not constitute such cause. Though police can ask someone to voluntarily submit to a sobriety test, he said, officers typically don’t request that without evidence of alcohol or drug use.
The State Police report also has boxes checked indicating that “driver distraction” — such as from a cell phone — was not a factor in the crash, but Johnson’s family said police told them that whether or not Pugh was using his cell phone at the time is still under investigation.
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‘Loved her family hard’
Morgan Johnson grew up in Hampton, with a fraternal twin sister, an older sister and an older brother.
She played softball “her whole life,” including two years at Kecoughtan High School. When she didn’t make the team her sophomore year, she went to the coach to say she’d “love to be part of the team somehow,” Haley said. She ended up becoming the team manager.
“If Morgan hadn’t gone and reached out to the coach, we probably would have never met,” Haley said. The two became best friends first and then began dating while still at Kecoughtan.
Morgan also served as Kecoughtan’s “Warrior” mascot for three years, and worked as a trainer at a local YMCA and on the staff of the County Grill & Smokehouse and Harpoon Larry’s.
After Haley went to Virginia Tech for college, Morgan moved to Blacksburg in 2020.
While there, she got certifications in photography, welding and advanced welding. The couple launched a photography business, taking senior pictures for students at Tech and Radford University. Morgan was also a certified personal trainer, rescued animals, and enjoyed fishing, traveling and her Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Morgan worked hard, played hard, and loved her family hard,” Paul said, with the family saying she was outgoing and caring to her many friends.
Haley said Morgan “was meant to be a mother,” and began talking several years ago about wanting a family. After getting married late last year, the couple pegged August as “baby month,” to start planning an in vitro pregnancy in which Haley would carry the baby to term.
“She was excited,” Haley said.
In fact, having a family was what drew the newlyweds back to the Peninsula. “We had a great group of people in Blacksburg, but it wasn’t our parents, right?” Haley said.
While Haley landed a school teaching job in the Williamsburg public schools, Morgan was set to begin a welding job in June that included working on a race car at Langley Speedway, one of her favorite hangouts.
“It felt like everything was just kind of falling into place, kind of perfectly,” Haley said.
The May accident and past four months provided a dramatic, painful shift. Haley is still reeling from the loss of a woman she’s known about half her young life.
“You can be in the worst mood ever, and she knows how to pick you up,” Haley said of Morgan. “I miss her ability to laugh at everything and to make everybody else laugh.”
Haley said she misses Morgan in the small things, too, like going to the grocery store together.
“She was my confidante, my person,” Haley said. “She knew what I was feeling before I felt it. She knew what I needed at all times.”
Morgan’s sister Chelsie said the most difficult part was telling her three children — aged 3, 6 and 9 — that their aunt had died. Two nieces will serve as flower girls when Morgan’s twin sister, Madison Johnson, gets married next May. During the service, the girls will use flower petals from their Aunt Morgan’s funeral a year earlier.
“Making Morgan a part of the wedding,” Paul said of her daughter. “She’s gonna be with us.”
Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com
