Charlottesville Car Killer James Alex Fields Jr. Charged With First Degree Murder
/ Anne Enke
Self-professed neo-Nazi James Alex Fields Jr., 20, has been charged with first-degree murder Thursday, after being jailed on lesser charges since the Aug. 12 for the death of Charlottesville protester Heather D. Heyer.
Fields had been charged with second-degree murder, punishable by five to 40 years in prison. WaPo writes:
Authorities had initially said that 19 people were injured, in addition to Heyer, when Fields allegedly rammed his 2010 Dodge Challenger into another vehicle on purpose on a crowded street. But testimony at the preliminary hearing revealed that there were many more victims. Besides first-degree murder, Fields, who lived in Ohio before his arrest, is charged with eight counts of “aggravated malicious wounding,” meaning that at least eight of the 35 people who were hurt suffered what Virginia law describes as “permanent and significant physical impairment," writes the New York Times.
The case will be presented to a grand jury next week. If the grand jury issues an indictment of Fields, a trial will follow. First-degree murder requires the element of premeditation. In upgrading the charges against Fields, authorities said video showing the Dodge backing up rapidly before it accelerated forward toward the crowd is concrete evidence that the crash was intentional.
