MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia man has pleaded guilty to being under the influence when he caused the crash that killed his pregnant girlfriend and their unborn child last spring in Fort Washington.
Jabrial Terry, 28, admitted he was high when his car crossed into oncoming traffic on Skippack Pike in Whitemarsh Township on May 4, 2024, and slammed head-on into another vehicle. He pleaded guilty to two counts of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence of marijuana and opioids and is sentenced to six-to-12 years in state prison.
Terry and the driver of the other car were injured in the crash and Terry’s girlfriend, 24-year-old Nya Stokes, who was in the front seat of his car, was killed.
Stokes was nine months pregnant and due that day. The baby was delivered by emergency cesarean section but died five days later.
Prosecutor Lauren Marvel says nothing can bring Stokes or her baby back.
“The sentence, in this case, sends a message that when you drive under the influence of drugs, of a controlled substance, or under the influence of alcohol, there are serious consequences,” Marvel said.
Prosecutor Gabby Glenning says, initially, Terry tried to say Stokes was driving, not him.
“But they were able to quickly, you know, disprove that and show through DNA testing, through the accident itself, how there was no way she could have been the driver and that it was definitely him,” Glenning said.
Terry apologized to Stokes’ family and said he was pleading guilty to take responsibility for what he had done.
During the sentencing, Montgomery County Judge Wendy Rothstein told Stokes’ family the packed courtroom showed what kind of life Nya lived, to have so many people show up for the hearing.