By Erika Butler
The Aegis
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Following a preliminary hearing Friday, a judge ruled the trial of a woman charged in the March death of a Whiteford Volunteer firefighter, who was also a paid firefighter in Harrisburg, Pa., will move forward.
Khanyae Kendall, 19, allegedly hit a vehicle driven by Lt. Dennis Devoe, who lived in Stewartstown, Pa., and volunteered with Whiteford for 18 years, as he was responding to a house fire in Harrisburg, Pa. He was also a paid firefighter for 21 years in Harrisburg.
A child died and others were injured in the blaze March 10, Harrisburg fire officials said.
Magisterial District Judge David O’Leary held the hearing at Dauphin County Prison, according to First assistant district attorney Francis T. Chardo, who said the case will be tried in the Court of Common Pleas. The hearing was first reported by pennlive.com.
Things “went as I expected them to go,” Chardo said Monday.
He called two police officers to testify at the hearing, Chardo said. One was the officer who found Kendall at the hospital following the crash that killed Devoe, the other conducted a field sobriety test and took Kendall’s statement, Chardo said.
He said he expects the case to be resolved in the next six to eight months.
According to www.pennlive.com, Kendall faces multiple charges, including homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence.
Lt. Devoe, who had just returned from a colleague’s funeral, was headed to his fire station to pick up his gear before responding to the Harrisburg rowhouse fire. He worked for the City of Harrisburg Bureau of Fire for 21 years.
Whiteford Chief Frank Krick remembered Lt. DeVoe following his death as “a firefighter’s firefighter through and through. Some guys are in it and he was really that guy, into it for all the right reasons.”
Krick also said Lt. DeVoe was a mentor to a lot of people in the Whiteford company.
“He was always willing to teach, and learn himself through training,” Krick said at the time.
Copyright 2017 The Aegis
All Rights Reserved