Staff Report
A Concord teenager has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor death by vehicle in the death of his 17-year-old brother.
A Cabarrus County court clerk said Darius Lee Agnew, 16, received a suspended jail sentence and 18 months probation. A judge dismissed a charge that Agnew was driving with a revoked license when he caused the accident that killed his brother.
The Concord Police Department announced this afternoon that Darius Agnew, of 44 First St. N.W., Concord, was charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle Wednesday, appeared before a Cabarrus County District Court judge around noon today and pleaded guilty.
The Police Department did not say what sentence Agnew received, saying instead, “The Cabarrus County Clerk of Court is the point of contact for the record of the conviction and sentencing.”
A court clerk said the judge gave Agnew 18 months of probation and a suspended prison sentence, which could be invoked if he violates his probation.
In its press release, the Police Department said, Darius Agnew “accepted responsibility for his actions that took the life of his brother, Brandon McArthur Agnew, 17.”
“The judge accepted his plea and sentenced (Darius) Agnew at his Agnew’s request,” the police press release said. “The family wanted to begin the process of rebuilding their lives and knew it was important for Agnew to get this phase of the healing process behind him.”
Brandon Agnew died July 12 when he was a passenger in the back seat of his mother’s 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser. Darius Agnew was driving the car around 3 a.m. that Saturday when he lost control on Zion Church Road near the Litaker Lane intersection.
The PT Cruiser careened off the roadway, went airborne and rolled over. Brandon Agnew was thrown out of the car from the back seat and suffered fatal injuries.
A helicopter flew him to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where he died at 5:34 a.m.
The Police Department said the brothers took the car as their mother was sleeping, and the mother was not aware her sons had left home. A cousin, Nicolas Brian Mitchell, 16, also of Concord, was riding in the front passenger seat and suffered non-life threatening injuries.
“The Concord Police Department sends our deepest sympathy to the Agnew family,” the press release said.