Man gets pre-trial release after I-40 crash that killed two

A Kure Beach driver got pre-trial release Friday after spending the night in jail for a crash on Interstate 40 Thursday night that killed two people.

Marshall Hudson Doran, 21, faces two charges of felony death by motor vehicle. WRAL News initially reported he had been charged with second-degree murder, but prosecutors pointed out that was a paperwork error and never represented an accurate charge because Doran did not have malice in his actions that led to the two deaths.

Doran was westbound on I-40 near U.S. Highway 70 at about 8:30 p.m. when he came upon an earlier skid that involved a tractor-trailer cab, a green Toyota Corolla and gray Dodge Stratus.

Larry Kepley had pulled up behind the vehicles, and Kepley was putting out reflectors to warn other drivers when Doran's Volvo sedan hit him. Kepley, 39, of Winston-Salem, died at the scene.

The Volvo also hit Nathaniel Williams, of Hope Mills, who was driving the Stratus, troopers said. Williams, a member of the U.S. Navy from Hope Mills, was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.

Doran drove away from the scene, and Wake County deputies and state troopers found his damaged car at I-40 West near Lake Wheeler Road. He had jumped from his car and run into the woods, where police dogs tracked him down.

In addition to the two death by motor vehicle charges, he faces charges of resisting arrest and felony possession of a controlled substance. 

Doran's bond was reduced from $5 million to $500,000.