When handing down a jail sentence last summer after a fatal wreck in the Red Hill area of Albemarle County, a county judge expressed dismay that neither the conviction for eluding police nor an 89 mph speeding ticket, both landing just a few days before the crash, didn’t persuade Cody Viro Holliday to improve his driving.
"It’s just stunning that neither of those two things in any way caused him to pause," Judge Matthew Quatrara said in August. "The lack of self-awareness is absolutely shocking."
The judge went on to issue 10 months jail time, yank Holliday’s driver’s license and express hope that a demand for a year of good behavior and two months of suspended jail time hanging over him would convince Holliday to change his ways. However, Holliday is now facing eight new charges after a late March incident while driving on the license that Quatrara suspended.
Those charges, filed in Holliday’s home county of Amherst, include drug possession, two counts of possessing a gun with drugs, two counts of second offense carrying a concealed weapon, failure to yield the right of way, driving on a suspended license and driving without a license endorsement for a specialized vehicle.
Holliday’s Albemarle County conviction stems from an incident just before dawn on Aug. 23, 2023. Trial testimony showed that Holliday, driving a logging company’s pickup truck north on U.S. 29 with two colleagues aboard, ignored flashing, yellow warning signs urging a speed of 45 mph as he drove 75 mph at the Red Hill Road intersection and crashed into another vehicle.
The impact killed 49-year-old Trena Renae Davis Miller and her 74-year-old mother Janie Lee Davis. They had been back seat passengers in a car holding three generations heading home to Long Island, a small Pittsylvania community, after the elder woman received medical treatment at University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville. The driver and her daughter, in the car’s front seats, were injured but survived.
At the trial that concluded Aug. 13, the prosecution spoke at length about stopping distances and what a large machine Holliday was operating. Owned by Thurston Wheeler Logging, the vehicle was what’s called a "dually," a 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 with dual tires on its rear axle. Specifications for that model truck show that it would weigh 7,239 pounds while the stricken Kia Sportage, in which the women were riding, weighed less than half that, just 3,305 pounds.
Records show that Holliday, now 32, was held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail from Aug. 13 until Dec. 30.
Holliday’s file indicates that he has been granted bail on the new charges, but Amherst County General District Court records offer few details about the circumstances surrounding the arrest by Amherst County Deputy Sherwood Martin. Neither Sheriff L.J. Ayers III nor Holliday’s attorney Tom Berry responded to Daily Progress inquiries regarding the new charges which were filed March 23.
As for Holliday’s charges stemming from the fatal wreck in Albemarle County, an Albemarle County General District Court file shows that he has not paid the fines and court costs for last summer’s three convictions. In addition to the reckless driving charge, Holliday also was found guilty of driving without a seat belt and failure to appear when he was late to one of his court appearances.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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