Man is charged in crash that killed 3


A man from northern Illinois has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of three young people, including two from St. Louis County, in a wrong-way collision early Saturday on Interstate 55 in St. Louis.

An hour later, a man who didn't yet know that his son was among the victims was detoured around the accident on his way to work.

David Emigh, 21, of Geneva, Ill., an outer suburb of Chicago, was listed in fair condition Monday at St. Louis University Hospital under sheriff's guard. He was charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter. Police awaited alcohol analysis of blood taken from Emigh.

Emigh's Chevrolet Cavalier was southbound in the northbound lanes of Interstate 55 about 4:45 a.m. when it collided head-on with a northbound Cavalier. Emigh's passenger and the two people in the northbound car were killed.

Police said they didn't know where Emigh entered northbound I-55. The accident occurred underneath the Arsenal Street overpass in the northbound lane along the median barrier.

Killed were Amie Titus, 21, of St. Charles, Ill., who was riding in Emigh's car; Erica Brussel, 18, of the 800 block of North Forest Avenue in Webster Groves; and Steve "Nick" Hampton, 19, of the 6500 block of Suson Oaks Drive in Sappington. Brussel was driving the northbound car.

Police said Emigh and Titus had driven to St. Louis to attend a wedding. Geneva and St. Charles, Ill., are neighboring towns about 35 miles west of Chicago.

Hampton graduated in June from West County Technical School. Brussel was a hostess at Bartolino's South restaurant. Hampton and Brussel had been dating.

Hampton's father, Steven Hampton, drove north on I-55 about an hour later and had to take a detour around the accident on his way to work as a cable installer for Southwestern Bell. Hampton said police located him later at a work site to inform him of his son's death.


Man who pleaded guilty to crash that killed three gets five years' probation.


Probation for a driver who pleaded guilty in an alcohol-related crash that killed three people produced tears and words of anger Friday from relatives of one victim.

The driver, David Emigh, 22, of Geneva, Ill., pleaded guilty Sept. 14 to three counts of involuntary manslaughter in the crash July 25, 1998, on Interstate 55 south of downtown St. Louis.

Involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. But on Friday, St. Louis Circuit Judge Philip Heagney put Emigh on five years' probation. Heagney suspended imposition of a sentence, meaning that Emigh will have no conviction if he completes probation.

Heagney set several probation conditions, including community service, avoidance of alcohol and installation of a device in Emigh's car to prevent it from starting if the device detects alcohol fumes inside the vehicle.

Those and other conditions imposed by the judge are insufficient, said relatives of one of the crash victims, Erica Brussel, 18, of Webster Groves.

"I think (Emigh) should have gone to jail for at least seven years, the maximum," said a cousin of Brussel, Teresa Brussel. She called Heagney's sentence "a joke."

Friends and family members of Brussel and other crash victims helped fill a courtroom for the sentencing. They walked out when it became clear Heagney planned to put Emigh on probation.

Afterward, defense attorney Arthur Margulis said he agreed with Heagney's position that Emigh can do more good telling others about his mistake than sitting in prison.

About 60 of Emigh's friends and relatives also attended the sentencing.

"Clearly, Judge Heagney made a thoughtful decision in an effort to do what is best for everyone involved," Margulis said. "David Emigh can carry the message far better with community service than by being incarcerated. He is remorseful and shattered by these events and by the heartache his actions have caused to so many others."

Emigh was driving south in the northbound lanes of I- 55 when his car collided head-on with a car heading north beneath the Arsenal Street overpass.

Erica Brussel drove the other car. She died, as did her passenger, Steve "Nick" Hampton, 19, of Sappington. Amie Titus, 21, of St. Charles, Ill. - who was riding with Emigh - also died.

Tom Bitter, a victims' advocate for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, noted that defendants in such cases seldom get much prison time. He added that too often they become "repeat offenders" by causing more alcohol-related car crashes.

Bitter said, "Today, no justice was served."