Darrell Weatherly, second to the right, with family members. Photo courtesy of Netha Diamond.
California, MD – The last time Darrell Weatherly was seen alive witnesses recall he appeared to be having difficulty pedaling his bicycle. The date was Jan. 3, 2016.
According to a report on file with the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, the witness, a pizza delivery man, “observed a white male operating a bicycle on the sidewalk near the Sheetz [convenience store located in California, MD]. He said the male fell off the bike into the road on two occasions as he was passing in front of the Sheetz and on one of these occasions the male fell in the roadway toward the front of his vehicle causing him to take evasive action to avoid striking the victim. He further advised the male got back up and back onto the bicycle, and he was stumbling around as if intoxicated.” The witness told police the man on the mountain bike appeared to have the cycle in “a higher gear,” making it more difficult to pedal.
A short time later, around 5:48 p.m., the bike rider, later positively identified as Darrell Frederick Weatherly, 50 of Great Mills, lay dead in the roadway in the area of Three Notch Road and Mercedes Drive. His badly damaged bicycle was located in the number three lane of southbound Three Notch Road and the right turn lane directly at the entrance to Mercedes Drive. About 75 feet separated Weatherly from the bicycle. “The only vehicles in the area belonged to citizens who had stopped after avoiding striking the bicycle and victim,” stated Cpl. Brian Connelly, who investigated the accident. Connelly stated in the final collision reconstruction report (FCRR) that investigators discovered “a lot of debris” in the area of the bicycle, including a basket, several food and drink items, business cards, a CVS bag with prescriptions and other bicycle parts. “Just past the victim was a large piece of black plastic with blood on it,” Connelly stated in the report. “Later examination revealed this to be the wheel well plastic in which the initial responding officers determined belonged on a Hyundai Santé Fe due to stickers located on it. While examining the roadway no skid marks were observed and the only gauge marks appeared to have been caused by the bicycle. There was the appearance of shadowing from vehicle tires that changed lanes directly across the scene. However, they did not appear to start or end at the determined area of impact. No further evidence was located at the scene.”
Netha Diamond and Darrell Weatherly in 2015
Weatherly’s body was transported to Baltimore where the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy. According to the FCRR, the autopsy was completed by associate pathologist Diana Geli, who detailed the numerous traumatic injuries Weatherly sustained in the collision. In the toxicology analysis, Weatherly tested negative for alcohol and positive for drugs/narcotics. A “drug scan revealed Doxylamine – 0.4 mg/L, Citalogram – 0.2 mg/L, Acetaminophen – 12 mg/L.”
Weatherly’s sister, Netha A. Diamond, told investigators her brother used to be a certified doctor in Florida. “He was doing well until he started to smoke crack cocaine and lost his license,” the FCRR stated. Investigators were told that Weatherly was “in and out of rehab” and stopped using crack but then started drinking heavily. He moved to Southern Maryland and stayed with his sister for a while. “He then went through several stints and rehab and was currently residing in a halfway house.” At the time he was killed Weatherly was working at the Golden Corral. He was riding his bicycle to the restaurant at the time he was killed.
According to the report, the striking vehicle was identified and impounded the next day. According to Connelly, the Hyundai was found to have damage to its underside only. “The damage was contained to the area in which the wheel well had been ripped from the vehicle,” the FCRR stated. A sticker located on the plastic inner wheel well recovered from the accident scene had a barcode containing the name of an auto parts business. With the help of a customer service representative, investigators were able to not only determine the make and model of the vehicle that had left the scene but also the owner, a St. Inigoes resident. Investigators obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and a scan connected it to the Jan. 3 accident.
In addition to Weatherly’s mountain bike and the Hyundai, the FCRR listed a third vehicle, a Ford F-250. The driver of that vehicle attempted to return to the scene since he “believed he had run over something.” However, that vehicle had no exterior or underside damage.
The individual who had been driving the Hyundai when the accident occurred told a family member, and later police, that she thought the vehicle may have struck something in the area of Pegg Road. “She advised she believed the item to be a cinderblock, however, due to her vehicle still appearing to operate fine she returned home,” the FCRR stated.
In the report’s summary, Connelly stated that two of the medications found in Weatherly’s system at the time he was killed “are known to cause drowsiness.” That and other evidence prompted Connelly to surmise that Weatherly “either fell or crashed into the roadway’s lane of travel, making him illegally in the roadway. He was subsequently struck by a vehicle that had left the scene.” The vehicle’s operator “admits to leaving the scene of an area [where] she had struck something, however believes she struck a large cinderblock and was unaware she had struck a pedestrian/bicyclist. She is also unclear as to the exact location, but believes she could be mistaken on the location in which she struck something.”
Connelly concluded his report by adding, “this case was reviewed by the [St. Mary’s County] Assistant State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling. As a result of the review no charges would be pursued and the case is to be closed with no further police action.”
Although the FCRR was completed Nov. 23, 2016, it was only after Diamond contacted TheBayNet.com back in March that she says she became aware that the report was finalized and that the State’s Attorney’s Office was not pursuing charges. Diamond told TheBayNet.com that she is “very disappointed and angry” about the way authorities handled the case. A response from the sheriff’s office’s public information officer stated, “the investigating officer was in contact with two different family members during the investigation. The victim’s personal belongings were released to a family member and the deputy was in contact with a family member multiple times during and at the conclusion of the investigation.”
A call to Sterling’s office to inquire about why charges were not pursued had not been returned as this story was being filed.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com