Teen driver free on bond, facing manslaughter charges

Joseph Moreno of Supply was driving his car home from a party in early May when he crashed. Two of the four West Brunswick High students in his car died. Caleb Diaz Hawkins and Jacob Mosely died after a fatal crash off Royal Oaks Road. Joseph Moreno was driving the car, and at seventeen years old, he is facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter. "We had been consulting with the District Attorney, and finishing up our reconstruction, with our reconstruction unit out of Fayetteville,” said First Sergeant Morris of the NC Highway Patrol. According to Highway Patrol, Moreno and his passengers had just left a party at this house, just around the corner from the crash site. Officials say alcohol was not a factor in Moreno's case, but high speeds and inexperience behind the wheel contributed to the severity of the crash. "When you have teenagers, and inexperienced drivers, it's just a bad combination, you just can't tell them enough, to drive careful, and drive the speed limit. I mean speed limits are posted for a reason,” Morris said. WWAY visited Moreno at his home in Supply. He answered the front door with his father, neither would comment on the circumstances. Sources tell WWAY that the kids left the party in a hurry, because there was rumor law enforcement was on the way. According to District Attorney Rex Gore, the owners of the home where the kids left from are not being charged. Moreno made his first appearance in court yesterday. If Moreno had been impaired while driving, his charges would have been closer to felony death by motor vehicle.