More charges filed in fatal accident case

He also allegedly left a voice mail message for Williams in which Adams clucked like a chicken and said Williams was scared to race.

Adams was the driver of the silver car rumored to have been racing with Williams on a highway in eastern Greene County on the day Williams' car crashed into an oncoming motorcycle. Two people lost their lives.

On Wednesday, the Greene County Prosecutor's Office filed preliminary felony charges against Adams in connection with the crash.

Adams, 37, Solsberry, will be facing two counts of aiding in reckless homicide, both class C felonies, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, a class D felony, and reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor.

The charges were approved by Greene Circuit Court Judge Erik Allen and a warrant for the arrest of Adams was expected to be ordered.

The crash occurred around 7:45 p.m. on May 9 on State Road 43, south of County Road 525N, north of Solsberry. Williams was southbound in a black Camaro, and 19-year-old Jessica Allman of Bloomington was a passenger in his car. Jerry Marker, 40, Solsberry, was northbound on a motorcycle.

Williams, 19, Bloomington, was accused of pulling into the left lane, shifting his car into third gear and accelerating to a high rate of speed to pass another vehicle (the silver car driven by Adams) while going up a hill in a no passing zone. Williams' Camaro hit the oncoming motorcycle head-on in the northbound lane then skidded off the highway, overturned, rolled down an embankment and landed upside down. Both the car and the motorcycle caught fire upon impact.

Marker was pronounced dead on the scene. Allman was pronounced dead at Bloomington Hospital.

Less than two days after the crash, Williams was charged with two counts of reckless homicide, both class C felonies, and one count of reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor, following the initial investigation by the Greene County Sheriff's Department (GCSD).

A bench warrant was issued, Williams turned himself in and was released after posting 10 percent of a $20,000 bond. His case is scheduled to go to trial in Greene Circuit Court on Sept. 1.

GCSD Det. George Dallaire was called to the scene shortly after Deputies Jeremy Inman and Leon Dunigan arrived and Dallaire has continued to investigate the circumstances surrounding the crash.

On Wednesday, an 11-page probable cause affidavit was filed detailing Dallaire's investigation and his numerous interviews with Williams, Adams, family members, witnesses who saw the actual crash and witnesses who saw the black and silver cars traveling on the road prior to the crash.

Adams was driving a silver Toyota Supra which was not insured and not properly plated. The car's engine hood had been removed because it had to be removed in order to get it started. The two cars were allegedly on their way to another location to race.

Adams claimed that when they turned onto the highway, Williams "stomped on it" and tried to pass Adams in a no-passing zone on a hill. He said he was only going 40-50 mph, saw the motorcycle coming and tried to flag Williams back over and hit his brakes to warn Williams.

Preston Williams and the witnesses all told a different story. The affidavit says the investigation showed that Adams did not yield to Williams' vehicle in order to allow him to complete the pass and that Adams did not in any way warn Williams of the oncoming motorcycle and he did not lower his speed. Instead, Adams allegedly increased his speed as Williams was trying to pass him.

Adams also said he left the scene to call 911 because he did not have a cell signal. However, Dallaire said the GCSD never received a 911 call from Adams to report the crash. He also never contacted the GCSD to say he was a witness to the accident. However, Adams' son did call to report the crash.

Witnesses said the cars were very loud and more than one said when they heard them on the road, they went to their door or window to look out. More than one estimated the speed of the vehicles around 80 mph and said they were racing with the silver Supra in front and the black Camaro right behind. No witnesses saw any brake lights go on, nor did they see any warning signal like an arm flagging out the window.

One resident in the area said there had been problems in the past with Jeff Adams racing on the highway. Another said this racing and the sounds of engines and squealing tires happens almost every weekend and usually involves Adams or his son.

One witness described how they saw the black Camaro in the wrong lane attempting to pass the silver Supra and saw the Supra then pull ahead of the Camaro, not letting the Camaro pass.

After the crash, one witness said they saw Adams walk up to Williams and take him aside to talk where their conversation could not be heard. Williams, and several family members, said they believe Adams had been trying to get Williams to change his story.

Williams was interviewed by Dallaire at the hospital and then later. Both times, he told Dallaire about receiving three voicemail messages from Adams about racing. He said Adams would make sounds like a clucking chicken and say Williams was a chicken or too scared to race him. He also said Adams wanted to race him for money and was pushing him to race ever since he got the Camaro a week or two earlier. He said he'd never raced with Adams before. Williams also said Adams was always talking about racing, bragged about how fast the Supra was, talked about racing Williams' father when they were younger and said numerous times that the Adams's could beat the Williams's at anything.

On the day of the crash, according to the affidavit, one of Adams' sons purchased five gallons of "Turbo Blue" fuel early that day -- for $10 a gallon or $50 total. That fuel was poured into the Supra before the two cars left Adams' house to go race.

The affidavit states that Williams said after they got out on the highway, Adams was pulling away from him most of the time and he never started to gain on him until about the time of the crash.

According to the affidavit, Williams said he felt Adams instigated this race and he agreed that he and Adams were racing at the time of the crash because he (Williams) was trying to overtake Adams' vehicle and Adams was accelerating and pulling away from him. Williams estimated his own speed to be at least 75 mph at the time of the crash -- consistent with estimates from witnesses.

Dallaire wrote in the affidavit, "Jeff Adams' account of the events prior to this crash are not consistent with all of the witness accounts, and Jeff Adams is inconsistent in his own statement to me about when he realizes Preston Williams was starting to pass him. Jeff Adams also talks about Preston Williams trying to pass him and driving fast to do so, but then states his own speed was 40-50 mph, but Preston is never able to pass him in the almost quarter mile stretch they traveled on SR 43 from the intersection of CR 525N to the hillcrest where the crash occurred."

Dallaire further wrote, "Jeff Adams behavior, including his challenge to and agreement with Preston Williams to race their vehicles on a public roadway, his excessive speed on a dangerous stretch of highway, and his failure to allow Preston Williams to pass him by stopping or slowing his vehicle and instead accelerating his vehicle at a high rate of speed over a hilly section of highway created a substantial risk of bodily injury to anyone traveling on that portion of SR 43 at that time.

Dallaire concluded by writing, "In fact, I believe these actions aided, induced or caused Preston Williams to engage in the reckless driving behavior that resulted in this crash and the deaths of Jessica Allman and Jerry Marker."

Adams was asked to come in to speak with Dallaire in another interview in mid-June but he didn't show. He later called in and rescheduled -- three times. He was to call back on July 1 to reschedule again but he didn't. As of July 7, Adams had still not contacted Dallaire for the follow-up interview.