Man Charged with Failing to Help Victims in Double Fatal Accident
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Updated: 9:17 PM Jul 2, 2009
Man Charged with Failing to Help Victims in Double Fatal Accident
A man from Jackson County, W.Va. has been charged in connection with an accident that killed two recent high school grads last August.
Posted: 4:45 PM Jul 2, 2009
Reporter: Mike Waterhouse
Email Address: mike.waterhouse@wsaz.com
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RIPLEY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A man from Jackson County, W.Va. has been charged in connection with an accident that killed two recent high school grads last August.

Last Friday, a grand jury indicted Kurtis Barnett on two felony counts of accident involving death. The indictment alleges that Barnett failed to immediately stop his vehicle at the scene of a fatal accident, and did not stay there long enough to render aid and provide information.

Court paperwork does not clarify if Barnett was directly involved in the accident or just driving by. The prosecutor would not provide that information either.

19-year-old Bobby Sayre of Ripley and 18-year-old Ryan Smith of Cottageville both died in that crash, which happened on Parchment Valley Road in Given at about 3 a.m. on August 21, 2008.

Sheriff's deputies say the driver of the car lost control, went over a hill and rolled several times before landing in the creek. The car belonged to Smith, but investigators told WSAZ.com on the day of the crash that it was not clear if he was the driver at the time of the accident.

Deputies say it doesn't appear either was wearing a seat belt.

Both Smith and Sayre graduated from Ripley High School in June 2008.

Barnett will be arraigned on the charges July 13 at 9 a.m. in Jackson County Circuit Court.

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Latest Comments

Posted by: This is BS on Jul 21, 2009 at 12:46 PM

To Kelly and Snuffy & Bobbys parents: Dont listen to these people on here. You guys raised wonderful boys. & they have alot of friends who miss them. We all loved them very much. God only takes the best. Ryan and Bobby are our angels now. I feel a whole lot safer now knowing that theyre watching over me.
Posted by: This is BS on Jul 21, 2009 at 12:43 PM

(because the car was not yet in the creek) got the beer, Ryans keys, and also Ryans hat that was givin to his girlfriend later that night. Once this individual got out of the car, it rocked and rolled into the creek. They even tried gettin a truck and pulling the car out of the creek! Now my opinionif they werent trying to hide the beer or what happened dontcha think they would leave the scene as it was and go call the cops? Nope they sure didnt. They drove to the nearest gas station and called people telling them that Ryan and Bobby were dead. Nobody called the cops for almost 2 hours untill Ryan and Bobs close friends ran to see what happened and ran to the nearest house where they called 911. So not only do i believe Kurtis should spend his life in jail, his anger problems asked for this, but i feel that there are a couple individuals who deserve it also! This is a horrible thing that happened. I LOVED those boys. & i miss them more every day.
Posted by: This is BS on Jul 21, 2009 at 12:34 PM

I cannot believe some of the stuff people are saying on here. Especially the ones here that know nothing. I was very close to Ryan and Bobby. They were both my very good friends. I was there @ the scene of the accident the night it happened. It was like a nightmare from the things that i witnessed that night & i will never forget the things i saw. Two wonderful boys died that night over a mad man who was holding grudges over ryan because his sister tried to kill herself multiple times over Ryan because he didnt want to be with her. That is what started it ALL. And i also know of Barnette doing this another time to one of my other friends brother over the same reason! Barnette harassed Ryan several times over this. He chased him earlier that day! The night that all of this occured I was sitting on the ground @ the scene of the accident when a certain someone came up to me and and explained details how they were @ the accident before any emergency vechicles were there. Got in the car
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