Bryan Butler was visiting from Chicago this weekend when he allegedly was in a fatal car accident that killed an Atlanta couple crossing Memorial Drive early Saturday.
Early Monday afternoon, Butler, 20, shed tears as he stood shackled in the courthouse of the Fulton County jail and heard the accusations that he hit and killed Danya and William Crumbley.
"You are charged with homicide by vehicle, reckless driving and hit and run," Fulton County Magistrate Jessy Lall said, reading the accusations.
Butler's mother, who traveled from Charlotte to see to her son, said he wasn't the type to wantonly hurt anyone.
"Not him," Ontrella Hicks said she thought when she first heard the news. "My son would not do this. Evidently, there is something else going on."
According to police, Danya and William Crumbley, 31 and 33, respectively, were crossing Memorial Drive near Grant Street around 2 a.m. when they were struck by the vehicle Bryant was driving.
Police said speed, drugs and alcohol may have played a part in the accident that eventually ended with Bryant losing control and wrecking the car.
The Crumbleys were killed instantly, authorities said.
"I would want [their family] to feel that this isn't something he did intentionally," Hicks said. "I know he's very sorry by his reaction in court."
William Crumbley's uncle, Joseph Cannon Jr., told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the family was shocked by news of his nephew's death.
"One day he's there, and the next day he's not," Cannon said.
Cannon's sister, William Crumbley's mother, is Fulton County Magistrate Judge Sally Cobb Cannon. Cannon said she "is taking things in stride."
The family of Danya Crumbley also must deal with the loss.
"She was the essence of beauty inside and out," Danya Crumbley's father, Robert Wallace, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A memorial service will be held for the couple Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Cannon Cleveland Funeral Directors, 2580 Ga. 42 N., McDonough.
In lieu of flowers, William Crumbley's family has asked that donations be made in his honor to any organization that promotes racial justice and equality.
Butler will be in court again on Sept. 10 and will remain in the Fulton County jail awaiting his bond hearing on that date.
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