South Fayette Teen Gets Jail Time for Fatal Crash

A South Fayette teenager charged in connection to a February 2011 double-fatal crash in pleaded guilty Monday in Washington County Court and faces a maximum jail sentence of seven years.

A court clerk confirmed that Stormy Lynn Hunter, 19, appeared before President Judge Debbie O’Dell Seneca’s to plead guilty to numerous charges, leading to the jail sentence.

Those charges included two counts each of homicide by vehicle and aggravated assault, as well as one count of DUI as a minor.

She was listed as an inmate in the Washington County Jail as of Monday afternoon.

State police have said Hunter’s blood-alcohol level was .064 . The legal limit for drivers under the age of 21 is .02.

According to the criminal complaint, Mercolini was traveling in the right lane when his vehicle was struck in the rear by one driven by Hunter.

Nickolas Mercolini, 65, and Alex Mercolini Jr., 78, both of Pittsburgh, were ejected from the vehicle. They were pronounced dead at the scene. Two other passengers in the vehicle—Catherine Mercolini, 57, and Linda Mercolini, 64, were flown to Allegheny General and Mercy Hospital for treatment.

Hunter had told state troopers at the scene that she and a passenger were on their way home from a party in West Virginia and that she wasn’t paying attention when the other car drifted into her lane and the crash happened. Hunter also told state troopers that she “slammed on the brakes in an attempt to avoid the crash," according to the complaint.