Background: The area of the crash site in Clay County, W.Va. (WCHS/YouTube). Inset left: James Edward Neal Jr. (West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation). Inset right (from left to right): James Edward Neal III and Zayden Andrew Hurley (Wilson Smith Funeral Home).
A father in West Virginia was heading back from a football event with his two sons when he crashed into a parked construction vehicle, killing the boys, according to authorities.
James Edward Neal Jr., 34, has been charged with two counts of child neglect resulting in death in the deaths of 7-year-old James Edward Neal III and 13-year-old Zayden Andrew Hurley, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
The defendant also faces two counts of DUI with deliberate disregard for the safety of others causing death, DUI causing serious bodily injury, and child neglect creating risk of serious bodily injury or death. He is being held in the Central Regional Jail and Correctional Facility on $1 million bond.
On Aug. 22, Neal was driving an SUV with three children inside: James, Zayden, and a 14-year-old boy who was a friend of the defendant's sons. They were returning from a football event, Charleston ABC affiliate WCHS reported.
Suddenly, Neal smashed into a parked front-end loader operated by the West Virginia Department of Highways, authorities say. The West Virginia State Police, firefighters and medics responded to the crash site to find James and Zayden dead.
The third boy was rushed to an area hospital "in critical condition," according to a GoFundMe set up for him. The boy's seat belt and the impact from the crash apparently "cut [him] in half on the inside," the fundraiser said.
"His abs were split open, which is the wall that holds everything in place, so when it split, his organs pushed forward," the fundraiser added. "So the inside of his stomach is split open."
The boy was reportedly placed on a ventilator for two days and had to have multiple surgeries. "The driver of the car didn't have car insurance," so the expenses will fall on the child's father, per the GoFundMe.
"Mr. Neal crashed his vehicle into stationary pieces of DOH equipment in a straight stretch of the road," a criminal complaint filed in the case and reviewed by the regional TV station stated. It added that investigators learned the defendant had used meth in the past, but field sobriety tests were not administered "due to the emotionally charged nature of the scene" and Neal "exhibiting signs of head trauma."
Neal reportedly conceded that he relapsed after almost five years of sobriety, admitting he was using meth and marijuana. Neal said he fell asleep at the wheel, and investigators noticed that he appeared disoriented, with sweating and body tremors, troopers said.
Once the defendant learned his two sons were killed, he apparently made jokes with an acquaintance about lacerations to his hands.
Neal himself was taken to a regional hospital to be treated and have his blood drawn, and he allegedly tested positive for meth and THC. He was arrested and booked in jail.
The joint obituary for James and Zayden states they "both had personalities larger than life." They "shared the same passion for football with dreams of becoming NFL players one day" and "were kind, loving and funny kids."
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