SMITHFIELD – An impaired driver who killed an innocent woman in a wrong-way crash near Kenly two years ago has been sentenced to prison.
On September 6, Fernando V. Lynch was sentenced following a guilty plea to felony death by vehicle, felony serious injury by vehicle, and to his status as habitual felon.
The charges arose from a vehicle collision that occurred on Interstate 95 on May 21, 2022. Lynch was traveling in the wrong direction and struck another vehicle head on occupied by Makayla Roche and Kayla Agins, both of Jacksonville, Florida. Roche was killed, and Agins sustained serious injuries as a result of the impact.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol investigated the collision and determined that Lynch was impaired. Blood toxicology results revealed he had a blood alcohol concentration of .10 and had previously consumed cocaine.
Lynch was sentenced in Johnston County Superior Court by the Honorable Matthew T. Houston. He received a total sentence of 240 months minimum to 312 months maximum in the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.
The State of North Carolina was represented by Assistant District Attorney Keith Gordon.
“We are pleased with the outcome of this case and thank the court for its careful consideration,” ADA Gordon said. “We also extend our gratitude to the diligent work of lead investigator Brandon Barefoot of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol and Dwight Braswell of the North Carolina State Highway Collision Reconstruction Unit whose expertise secured this conviction.”
“Our deepest sympathy goes out to Makayla’s family and to Kayla and her family. These two young women were close friends and are loved by many. While the sentence imposed will not undo what happened in this case, we hope it brings some solace to the families. The Johnston County District Attorney’s Office remains resolute in its commitment to bring impaired drivers to justice,” Mr. Gordon stated.
I’m so glad cases like this are starting to get the justice and recognition that they deserve. My mom was killed, in 2015, at the hands of an impaired driver. And it was like his 7th dui, but because they were spread out over so many years, he couldn’t be charge with habitual. He was charged with felony death by motor vehicle and was given a sentence of 2-3ish years I believe. I’m not sure if his sentence was so short because she was in the car with him and dating the guy or what. Regardless, it didn’t bring my mom back and the man has since passed away from health related issues, himself. But he was on probation at the time, as well, for drug related offenses. I feel like some of these deaths could be prevented if we had stricter sentencing guidelines in place and when somebody was given a 5 year sentence they actually had to spend all 60 months in prison. My sincerest condolences go out to these families involved and I hope that you find the slightest bit of peace knowing that this won’t happen to anyone else at the hands of this same individual, for many many years, at least!