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Rep. Larry Womble faces misdemeanor charge of death by vehicle

Published: May 24, 2012

With Rep. Earline Parmon by his side, Rep. Larry Womble wipes away tears as he tells his fellow legislators to do what's right and approve funding for the Eugenics Compensation Program during a House committee meeting on Tuesday, May 22, 2012. The committee did approve the bill to provide compensation for victims of North Carolina's forced sterilization program. Womble has worked more than a decade on this bill. This is his first time back in the Legislature since being injured in an automobile wreck in December 2011.

Shawn Rocco — srocco@newsobserver.com

From staff reports

Authorities charged a Winston-Salem state lawmaker with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle Thursday after a fatal car wreck in December.

Rep. Larry Womble left the legislative session in Raleigh to turn himself into the Forsyth County magistrate's office where a warrant said he "unlawfully and willfully caused the death" of the other driver by failing to maintain lane control, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

The N.C. Attorney General's special prosecution unit is handling the case. Womble, 70, crossed the centerline striking the other car, witnesses told police. The other driver had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, police reports state.

Womble returned to the ongoing legislative session for the first time Tuesday, welcomed with applause by his colleagues. He is still recovering from his injuries and appeared at the magistrate's office in a wheelchair, the newspaper reported. His court date is July 18.

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