Yancey due in court over Billings’ wreck

Truck driver Joseph Clarence Yancey III is scheduled to appear in the Wilkes County Courthouse May 26 to face the criminal charges brought against him following the November 2004 death of 40-year-old Glade Valley resident Susan Mimbs Billings.

Yancey, who was 49 years old and a resident of Spindale at the time of the fatal accident, is charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle in the case, court records show. The case had been continued from an earlier court date of April 28.

Yancey was driving a truck loaded with waste cotton bales that overturned heading down U.S. 21 just over the Wilkes County line on Nov. 22, 2004, landing on top of Billings’ Blazer, said a report filed by Trooper J.R. Hall of the N.C. Highway Patrol.

According to the report, Yancey said his rig went left of center on a downgrade and overturned on Ms. Billings vehicle when his load of cotton bales shifted. Billings vehicle subsequently caught fire, leading to her death.

The family subsequently filed a lawsuit.

Motions were heard in the lawsuit on May 16 in Yadkin County Courthouse. The suit was filed by Thomas “Tommy” Billings, administrator of the estate of Susan Billings, against Yancey and several other companies and individuals. Listed on the suit were Terminal Trucking Company Inc, Triple B Leasing Inc. and PACECO Inc., Yancey, Charles Eugene Isenhour and Mary B. Isenhour.

According to Billings’ attorney, Clifford Britt, the court ruled on a motion to delay the case. The defendants had asked the court to delay the civil case but the court denied the motions, said Britt. The civil case will proceed and no other hearings have been scheduled at this time.

Even though the motions were heard in Yadkin County, the civil case still is pending in Alleghany County. Britt said the motions were heard in Yadkin County as a convenience for all parties and Superior Court Judge James Webb, who is trying the case.

A notice of the pending court case was accompanied by the amended answer of Terminal Trucking and Joseph Clarence Yancey III and an answer by Triple B Leasing Inc. PACECO Inc., Charles Eugene Isenhour and Mary B. Isenhour.

The amended answer expanded the sixth and seventh defense and added an eighth defense in reference to punitive damages. In the sixth defense, it referenced any possible negligence that played a part in the collision.

“In addition, the evidence shall show that the plaintiff, Susan Billings, failed to disengage the engine of her motor vehicle, and failed to eliminate the flow of gasoline to the engine of her motor vehicle which fueled any subsequent fire and that the plaintiff failed to take other precautions for her own safety following the collision alleged in the complaint.

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