Buncombe Man Charged with Murder in 2022 Fatal DWI Crash

Herbert Garman was riding as a passenger in a 2011 Mercury van on Sweeten Creek Road in Arden when a 2020 Dodge Ram crossed left of center and hit the van head-on. Garman, 99, died later that afternoon.

The Buncombe County District Attorney's Office confirmed that 49-year-old Stephen David Cordell was sentenced after pleading guilty to felony death by motor vehicle, felony serious injury by motor vehicle, felony possession of methamphetamine and driving while impaired. The crash occurred near Weston Road along Sweeten Creek Road in Arden at around 10:19 a.m. on Dec. 11, 2022.

Both occupants of the sedan were transported to Mission Hospital, the driver with critical injuries and the passenger with life-threatening injuries. Garman did not survive. Police said Cordell was behind the wheel of the pickup truck while impaired when he crossed the center line.

Officials said Cordell pleaded guilty to felony death by motor vehicle, felony serious injury by motor vehicle, felony methamphetamine possession and driving while impaired. Five days after the accident, Cordell was arrested and faced multiple charges, including possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of methamphetamine, reckless driving to endanger and felony serious injury by a vehicle.

The sentencing brought a prison term of 64 to 89 months in the North Carolina Division of Adult Correction, a range that translates to more than five years at the low end. The Buncombe County District Attorney's Office said it maintained contact with the victim's family throughout the legal process and that the family "expressed satisfaction with the sentence Cordell received."

The case unfolded against a backdrop of ongoing impaired-driving prosecutions in the county. Garman, a 99-year-old Hendersonville resident, was transported to Mission Hospital where he died from his injuries, and Cordell later received an order for arrest after failing to appear in court, eventually appearing before a judge in Buncombe County District Court. Prosecutors ultimately secured the guilty plea more than three years after the collision.

North Carolina law sets a high bar for the most serious charges in impaired-driving deaths. As officials explained in a separate Buncombe County DWI homicide case filed just days ago, state law requires both the element of impairment and a person's death to charge a driver with second-degree murder. Cordell was not charged with murder; the felony death by motor vehicle count carried the weight of the prosecution.