Penn Hills man pleads guilty to 2019 fatal crash that killed Verona man
A Penn Hills man pleaded guilty Monday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court to causing a fatal crash two years ago.
Kevin Morrow pleaded to homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and reckless endangerment stemming from the June 29, 2019, crash on Saltzburg Road in Penn Hills.
Morrow, 26, was driving a 2014 Audi when he crossed the center line and struck a Nissan Versa head-on just before 2 a.m. The Audi flipped over and was burning when officers arrived on the scene, which they described as “chaotic.”
The force of the crash pushed the engine into the passenger compartment, pinning the driver of the Versa, Marc Hazur, 23, of Verona, inside the car.
Hazur was pronounced dead at the scene.
Morrow consumed six drinks between 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. earlier that night at Cornerstone Restaurant in Aspinwall, and then additional drinks at Oakmont Tavern, according to prosecutors.
His blood-alcohol level was 0.184% — more than twice the state’s legal limit — when it was drawn at the hospital.
Investigators said that Morrow smelled of alcohol and had difficulty speaking.
Morrow’s passenger, Robert Cooper, sustained a liver laceration and had to receive 20 stitches in his face, the prosecution said.
Sean Blacksmith, who had been a passenger in Hazur’s car, had a bladder laceration and had to have a section of his intestines removed from damage caused by the seat belt of the car.
Morrow will be sentenced by Judge Kelly Bigley on Sept. 27. He faces a mandatory prison term of three to six years.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of “Death by Cyanide.” She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.