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After three years of legal battles, a Cumberland County man pleaded no contest Tuesday to causing a 2021 crossover crash on Interstate 81 that left his foster child and niece dead.
Gregory A. Nornhold, fighting through tears, affirmed his intent to plead to involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault by vehicle and other charges in a colloquy with Judge Jessica Brewbaker.
A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but means the defendant concedes that if the case went to trial, prosecutors would be able to prove the crimes indicated.
In legal terms, it acts as a conviction.
Sentencing is set for Aug. 18.
State sentencing guidelines for the manslaughter count, based on Nornhold’s clean prior record, call for a minimum prison term ranging from 12 to 24 months, though the judge has the discretion to go above or below that range.
Police and prosecutors assert Nornhold, now 39, was impaired by marijuana when his SUV veered off Interstate 81’s northbound lanes, across the median and into the path of a southbound pick-up truck on Aug. 3, 2021. The crash occurred in Silver Spring Township, in the area of the Rich Valley Golf Course.
Investigators at the scene that day, police said, found no skid marks or other obvious signs of a hard braking before the crash.
The collision killed Nornhold’s 4-year-old niece, Mila Glessner, and a 2-year-old girl, Lincoln Nelson, who was an emergency foster care placement with Nornhold and his husband. Two boys, ages 6 and 8, that the Nornholds were in the process of adopting were also hurt in the crash, but survived.
Nornhold, of the 700 block of Alberta Avenue, Hampden Township, was driving the children home from a relative’s house when the 3:39 p.m. crash occurred.
Nornhold was also charged with not having three of the children – including Glessner and Nelson – in proper car seats at the time of the crash.
Lead investigator Jacob Fackler testified in an April 2022 hearing that he filed third-degree murder and aggravated assault charges against Nornhold because of toxicology reports showing THC in his system and suggesting usage of marijuana shortly before the crash, the fact that witnesses said there were no obvious traffic or mechanical factors to cause Nornhold’s vehicle to leave the road, the presence of marijuana vape cartridges in the car and the child seat issues.
Fackler also testified that the medical marijuana dispensary where Nornhold shops counsels its clients about side effects and the perils of driving after using their products, and buyers get written warnings with every dosage.
But Brewbaker tossed the murder charges later that year, finding state case law holds that a decision to drive under the influence, by itself, does not show the malice needed to sustain a murder conviction.
In Nornhold’s case specifically, Brewbaker noted there is no evidence of accompanying factors needed to prove malice, like fleeing from a crime scene, a pattern of erratic driving in the minutes before the crash or even prior indicators that Nornhold should have known he was at risk of passing out due to marijuana use and still chose to drive.
In his interviews with police, Nornhold initially said he may have been looking at the kids in the rear-view mirror but he could not remember. He described everything as being blurry and complained about not being able to remember what occurred before the crash. He guessed that something in front of him must have happened and he didn’t have time to stop.
In a follow-up interview, Nornhold told police he believed his air bag deployed while driving, knocking him unconscious.
Tuesday’s plea proceeding played out in an empty courtroom, save for Nornhold’s husband.
Survivors of the crash victims and other drivers will have their chance to present victim impact statements at sentencing.
First Assistant District Attorney Courtney Hair LaRue said afterward her office agreed to the negotiated plea after consultations with police and the victims’ families.
“I don’t know that anything will reflect how serious this was,” Hair LaRue said of the deal, noting the facts shows the defendant chose to drove while high on Interstate 81, with four juvenile passengers, several of whom were not properly belted in car seats.
But the plea has the benefit, she said, of sparing the victims’ family members the emotional torment of reliving the details of the case at trial.
For the defense, meanwhile, Nornhold saw prosecutors agree to drop homicide by vehicle while DUI charges, which carry mandatory minimum sentences of three years for each death charged.
Neither Nornhold nor his attorney, Bryan McQuillan, were able to be reached for comment.