A truck driver has been charged with death by
auto after an accident early Saturday that killed a friend of
Tracy Morgan and left the actor-comedian and two others in
critical condition.
Kevin Roper, 35, was also charged with four counts of assault
by auto in connection to the accident.
Morgan remains in intensive care after the vehicle he was in
was struck by a tractor-trailer on the New Jersey Turnpike.
According to state police, the 45-year-old Saturday Night Live
and 30 Rock star was in a luxury Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van
with six other people when it was hit at around 1 a.m.
Saturday and flipped over.
Morgan was returning from a show in Dover, Delaware.
The Associated Press reported a spokesman at Robert Wood
Johnson University Hospital Center in New Brunswick, New
Jersey, confirmed Morgan is in critical condition.
Police said passenger James McNair, 62, of Peekskill, N.Y.
was pronounced dead at the scene. McNair, known on the
comedy circuit as Uncle Jimmy Mack, was Morgan’s writer
and friend.
Morgan’s assistant Jeffrey Millea and fellow comedian Ardie
Fuqua were also critically injured. Comic Harris Stanton was
treated and released from hospital.
According to the van’s owner, there were two drivers — one
behind the wheel and one in the front passenger seat. Both
escaped uninjured.
Just before the accident, Fuqua posted photos from the show
with the message: “Road life is a good life.”
Fuqua lost his 19-year-old son in a car crash in 2012.
Late Saturday morning, Morgan’s rep issued a statement
confirming the comic was injured. “His family is now with him
and he is receiving excellent care. We don’t anticipate much of
a change in his condition today but will provide a further
update once more information becomes available.”
Morgan and his fiancée, model Megan Wollover, welcomed
Maven Sonae last July. He also has three adult sons from a
previous marriage.
His Saturday show in Charlotte, N.C. has been cancelled.
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