WILMINGTON — A local man pled guilty to four of 20 charges related to a two-vehicle accident that injured a teacher and her three children.
Justin Lemmings, 20 — currently incarcerated in the Clinton County Jail — pled guilty to four counts of felonious assault to Judge R. Alan Corbin on Tuesday in Clinton County Common Pleas Court.
Each charge (a felony 2 offense) is connected to the each of the victims — Ashley Davis of New Vienna and her three children.
Lemmings was indicted in June 2019 on 11 counts of alleged felony 2 felonious assault; six counts of alleged felony 3 aggravated vehicle assault; one count of alleged felony 5 endangering children; and two counts of alleged felony 3 abduction.
The crash on State Route 73 in Wilmington in May 2019 involved a 2002 Chevrolet Impala driven by Lemmings and a 2006 Chevrolet Equinox SUV driven by Davis.
A witness stated that the Impala operated by Lemmings ran a red light and T-boned the Equinox.
Davis, who had been listed in critical condition after incurring several serious injuries that required surgery, was able to return home after undergoing physical therapy.
The large number of charges against Lemmings is partly due to the number of people injured, the late Clinton County Prosecutor Richard “Rick” W. Moyer told the News Journal when the case first went to the Common Pleas Court.
Some of the counts go toward the fact that Lemmings was operating an automobile which, said Moyer, is “in fact a deadly weapon.”
The counts also cover the allegation the driver was over the legal limit of alcohol.
The charge of “endangering children” goes to the fact there was a juvenile in the car Lemmings was driving while allegedly over the alcohol limit, Moyer had said.
The two abduction charges speak to allegations that passengers wanted to get out of the car Lemmings was operating and allegedly they were not allowed to get out.
Lemmings is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday, Dec. 15.
