The father of an ECU student killed in a high-speed, rear-end crash criticized an “asinine” and “ridiculous” charge of misdemeanor death by vehicle and demanded time for private investigation into the case.

Douglas Smith emailed The Daily Reflector a copy of a letter sent on Monday to the City Attorney’s Office, alleging his son, Ashley “Ash” Stephen Smith, was murdered on Oct. 23 by a man he said likely was under the influence of narcotics when the vehicles crashed.

His son, a 32-year-old East Carolina University student, was stopped in his 2000 Honda hybrid car at a red light on N.C. 11 North at U.S. 264 East near Greenpark Drive when he was rear-ended by a 1997 Jeep at 1:12 p.m., according to a crash report. According to Greenville police, the airbags in Smith’s car did not deploy.

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