Driver In Fatal Crash Served Time For Previous Deadly Accident
A tree stump and two damaged houses can be seen from this photo taken Monday morning where one man was killed after an SUV left the roadway. InkFreeNews photo by Dan Spalding.
By Dan Spalding
InkFreeNews
PIERCETON – The man behind the wheel in a weekend accident that killed his brother served time for a drunk-driving accident 10 years ago that killed two elderly people in Missouri.
Zacheriah Cain, 26, was hospitalized Sunday morning after the SUV he was driving hit a large tree and then somehow continued on and damaged two houses in the 600 block of North First Street before coming to rest just a few feet from a bedroom where a couple was sleeping.
The accident happened at about 12:40 a.m. Sunday, May 9, on First Street, which is also SR 13 in Pierceton.
Debris still littered both yards at 602 and 604 First St., Monday morning. A picket fence outlining the front porch at 602 was partially destroyed and the porch was being supported with wood planks to keep it from collapsing.
Authorities believe Zacheriah Cain, 26, was traveling south on SR 13 at a fast rate of speed in a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander when it crossed the centerline. The SUV then nicked the side of a tree before colliding with a large tree on the other side of a driveway that then fell into the road.
The SUV continued on and struck the corner of a house at 604 N. First Street and then hit the corner of a home at 602 N. First Street.
When police arrived, Zacheriah Cain was outside of the vehicle yelling for help for the passenger, Dontaye Cain,
Dontaye Cain, 28, was unconscious and died at the scene from his injuries.
Police confirmed they were brothers.
Zacheriah Cain admitted to drinking prior to the accident and refused a blood draw. He was taken to a Fort Wayne hospital for his injuries.
Police obtained a blood draw from him.
The crash woke Ben and Ashley Robinson, who were asleep in their home at 602 N. First Street. The SUV struck the corner of their house, about three feet from their bed.
Ben Robinson said he initially thought the noise was a hot water heater exploding.
The impact knocked loose a metal item that’s part of the headboard and it hit Ben and Ashley Robinson in the head while they were still in bed.
“I feel bad for the family,” Ben Robinson said Monday morning.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Ashley Robinson added.
Both homeowners declined to talk more out of respect for the circumstances.
According to Missouri court records, Zacheriah Cain was convicted of two counts of involuntary manslaughter after an accident that killed an elderly couple who were in an all-terrain vehicle in 2011.
Zacheriah Cain was 16 at the time and driving a Pontiac Sunfire when the crash happened east of Moscow Mills, Mo. Cain’s car crested a hill and struck the back of the ATV, according to a story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Cain was charged with two counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter after an investigation by the Missouri Highway Patrol revealed that he had been traveling at a high rate of speed and was under the influence of alcohol.
He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Photo from the accident in Pierceton Sunday morning, May 9. Photo provided by Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office.
The home at 602 N. First Street sustained damage. InkFreeNews photo by Dan Spalding.
A tree on the left side was nicked by an SUV before the vehicle struck another tree and two houses early Sunday morning. InkFreeNews photo by Dan Spalding.
