A 19-year-old Blanchester man is now facing felony charges after a January crash in Tate Township that killed a 74-year-old passenger and left a driver seriously injured. A Clermont County grand jury returned four counts against Sean McDonald on July 23, charging him with aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter and vehicular assault. Authorities say the collision happened at the intersection of State Route 232 and Swings Corner-Point Isabel Road when a vehicle failed to stop at a sign and struck the other car on the passenger side.
According to FOX19, the passenger who later died was identified as 74-year-old Dennis Skeene. Both Skeene and the 70-year-old woman driving the other vehicle were taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where Skeene later died of his injuries. The station reports that a crash report says McDonald’s vehicle hit a tree after the impact and that investigators flagged the stop-sign allegation in their report. FOX19 notes the indictment came roughly six months after the Jan. 24 collision.
Grand Jury Hands Up Charges
The county’s public pages explain that indictments are returned by the grand jury and posted to the court docket system, and the court’s Dockets and Grand Jury Reports page outlines that process. Court dockets show the indictment was handed up on July 23 and list the counts now in the Common Pleas criminal docket. With the grand jury finding in place, the case will move into formal arraignment and pretrial scheduling in Clermont County Common Pleas Court.
What The Charges Mean
Ohio law groups aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular homicide, and vehicular manslaughter in the same statute, with aggravated vehicular homicide codified in ORC 2903.06. Depending on the exact facts and any prior offenses, aggravated vehicular homicide can be prosecuted as a top-level felony and may carry mandatory prison time. Vehicular assault and related vehicle-based offenses carry their own ranges under state law. The Ohio Revised Code and sentencing provisions spell out how those charges are classified and the potential penalties.
Next Steps In Court
Because the grand jury returned an indictment, McDonald will be scheduled for arraignment and further proceedings in Clermont County Common Pleas Court. Court dates, filings, and docket entries are publicly available through the clerk’s case access portal for the Common Pleas Court.
