Judge shuts down plea deal in 2021 drunk driver crash that killed Duke employee

The family of a Duke employee killed by a speeding drunk driver in 2021 will have to wait even longer for justice.

The case involving the death of Duke employee Daniel Watt was supposed to wrap up Thursday in Durham County court. However, a judge declined to sign off on the plea deal offered by prosecutors.

The family of Daniel Watt felt this was a positive development because they thought the plea deal was too lenient.

They were upset that the district attorney was willing to downgrade the charges for the man who killed their loved one.

Now they may have another chance.

Watt was riding in the back of a Lyft on the Durham Freeway in August 2021 when that car was hit by a driver troopers say was going 143 miles per hour and had a blood alcohol content nearly twice that of the legal limit.

Watt's family and friends came to the courthouse Thursday from as far as California and New York. They expected the driver, Gregory Coley, to take a plea deal that would reduce his charge from second-degree murder to felony death by vehicle.

It was a deal they thought was too forgiving.

In that sense, they are pleased the judge was also unwilling to accept it.

"One of our concerns is the safety of the community," said Eugene Watt, Daniel's brother. "If this case, 143 miles per hour, driving that vehicle at that time of night with that BAC doesn't meet the statute for murder 2, then what does?"

Coley declined to talk as he was leaving the courtroom. But attorney Julian Hall thinks the deal was fair, saying there's case precedent on his side from around the state.

He believes second-degree murder could amount to 12 to 14 years in prison, felony death by vehicle would be about half of that.

"This is not a gimmie from the district attorney's office. The district attorney's office in Durham does not work that way," Hall said. "However what they do is listen, listen to mitigation, listen to what the defense has to say."

"I know Mr. Coley is remorseful," Hall said. "I've been dealing with him for almost a year now and each and every time he comes to my office, he's in tears."

As far as what's next, this same plea could go to another judge and that judge might be willing to accept it.

That's what the defense attorney hopes and that's exactly what the family is worried could happen.