Two drivers charged in crash that killed 6 construction workers in Maryland

Two drivers were indicted on more than 50 charges Monday in connection with a horrific March crash that took the lives of six construction workers on a Maryland highway, the Baltimore County State's Attorney's Office said.

Lisa Adrienna Lea, 54, of Randallstown, Md., and Melachi Duane Darnell Brown, 20, of Windsor Mill, Md., are facing six counts each of negligent manslaughter and death of a vulnerable person, as well as numerous traffic violations in connection with the crash on the inner loop of Interstate 695 on March 22. Lea is facing a count of driving while impaired.

Video recorded by a Maryland Department of Transportation traffic camera and obtained by The Washington Post showed that the crash began as both cars were traveling in the far-left lane, while a construction crew was working in the median of the Baltimore Beltway.

Lea tried to change lanes around 12:40 p.m. when her car struck the front corner panel of a Volkswagen Jetta driven by Brown, Maryland State Police said. The impact caused the Acura to go through a gap in a highway barrier and plow into the construction workers, police said.

Ron Snyder, a spokesman for the Maryland State Police, said authorities were still searching for Lea but that Brown was arrested.

"He was taken into custody on Monday and had an initial bail appearance on Tuesday," Snyder said. "He was placed on house arrest."

WBAL-TV reported that Brown's car hit speeds of up to 122 mph shortly before the crash and was seen darting in and out of traffic, according to testimony at Tuesday's hearing. Lea's vehicle was traveling up to 111 mph, WBAL-TV reported court testimony revealed.

The National Transportation Safety Board had previously concluded that both drivers were speeding, according to a preliminary investigation. The board said previously that it would examine speeding, work-zone protection for construction workers and collision avoidance technology. The probe would probably take a year.

Lea and Brown were not listed in court records, so it is unclear if either had retained an attorney.

Maryland State Police identified the dead workers as Rolando Ruiz, 46, of Laurel; Carlos Orlando Villatoro Escobar, 43, of Frederick; Jose Armando Escobar, 52, of Frederick; Mahlon Simmons III, 31, of Union Bridge; Mahlon Simmons II, 52, of Union Bridge; and Sybil Lee DiMaggio, 46, of Glen Burnie.

The victims included two brothers, Villatoro Escobar and Armando Escobar. Maritza Guzman de Villatoro, Villatoro Escobar's wife, told The Post in March that her husband had been her childhood sweetheart and that they had been married more than two decades. Both brothers were from El Salvador.

"There are no words," she said in a phone interview in Spanish. "What can I tell you? Drivers need to be more careful when they’re on the road. Innocent people pay later for their mistakes."

The Maryland State Highway Administration said the construction workers were part of a project that is supposed to ease congestion on the Baltimore Beltway. The crash highlighted the dangers that road workers face during a period when highway construction has increased.