Stephen Andrew Yuhasz leaves the office of District Judge Gary Whiteman following a preliminary hearing Wednesday morning. Yuhasz was ordered to stand trial for homicide by vehicle and several other counts related to a July 2024 crash that claimed the life of Kathleen McFadden, of Montoursville.

A Berks County teen will not face prosecution for third degree murder when he stands trial for allegedly causing a fatal crash that killed a Montoursville woman last summer, District Judge Gary Whiteman ruled in dismissing the charge late Friday afternoon.

In December, Stephen Andrew Yuhasz, 18, of Reading, was charged with one count each of homicide by vehicle, murder of the third degree, two count of aggravated assault by vehicle, three counts of recklessly endangering another person and several summary offenses for allegedly causing the July 6 crash that claimed the life of Kathleen McFadden, 65, along Route 87 in Upper Fairfield Township.

Kathleen McFadden was a passenger in a 2014 Chevrolet Cruze driven by her husband, Mark McFadden, 69. The pair were just two miles from their home when Yuhasz attempted to pass a vehicle in front of him, thereby entering the McFaddens’ lane, according to court documents.

Yuhasz admitted to seeing the McFaddens’ vehicle in the oncoming lane, but believed he had time to pass before realizing the McFaddens were traveling “at a high rate of speed,” state Trooper Lance Klingler testified at Yuhasz’s preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

With not enough time to pass, Yuhasz swerved to his left, towards the eastern shoulder, in an attempt to avoid the collision as McFadden swerved to his right and was struck by the Jeep, the trooper said.

Yuhasz stated that he was traveling between 60 and 65 mph at the time of the crash, however, data from the respective vehicles’ airbag control modules indicated that McFadden was traveling between 49 and 54 mph just prior to the crash, while Yuhasz’s speed was estimated to be between 76 and 83 mph just seconds before the crash, according to state Trooper Jacob Sukal, a collision reconstructionist who testified at Yuhasz’s preliminary hearing last week.

The speed limit in the area of the crash is 55 mph, both troopers testified.

Kathleen McFadden was killed instantly due to blunt force trauma, while Mark McFadden sustained serious injuries.

Yuhasz and his passenger, his girlfriend, Sarah Anderson, 20, received only minor injuries.

Lycoming County District Attorney Tom Marino cited the “grossly negligent actions of Yuhasz that led to the fatal motor vehicle collision” as part of his reason for initially charging Yuhasz as an adult, despite being 17-years-old at the time of the wreck, an affidavit said.

While all other counts were bound over at Yuhasz’s preliminary hearing Wednesday, Whiteman reserved his decision on the murder charge, pending research and the filing of legal briefs from the opposing sides.

Yuhasz showed the malice needed for the murder charge when he saw the McFaddens’ vehicle and continued to merge anyway, Deputy Assistant District Attorney Phoebe Yates argued at a preliminary hearing last week.

“He saw the risk, took the risk and continued towards the risk,” Yates told the judge.

But, defense attorney Robert Hoffa successfully argued that Yuhasz’s actions lacked any such malice.

“This was nothing more than a traffic accident,” Hoffa argued at the hearing.

Yuhasz was a 17-year-old who did what he thought was best in trying to avoid colliding with the McFaddens, he said.

The acceleration shown by the module was Yuhasz’s attempt to pass the vehicle when he realized McFadden’s vehicle was traveling faster than he thought, Hoffa argued, calling the incident “unfortunate,” while lamenting the loss of McFadden.

“We agree that the incident unfortunately involves a 17-year-old, but regardless, someone died,” Yates countered.

“I’m not sure how much more reckless you can get than to travel between 70 and 80 miles an hour in a 55 mph zone, see a vehicle oncoming and try to pass the vehicle in front of you anyway,” she stressed.

“I think it was the appropriate decision,” Hoffa said when reached for comment by the Sun-Gazette.

“Those charges never should’ve been filed,” the attorney said of the third degree murder charge, as well as an additional charge of aggravated assault that was initially held for court, but dismissed as part of Whitman’s Friday ruling.

“We’re happy that the judge found that there was no malice,” Hoffa said.

His next move will be to file a motion to transfer the case from the Court of Common Pleas into the juvenile court, he said, stressing that the remaining charges are not required to be filed in adult court.

“We’re satisfied with the charges that were bound over for court,” Marino said of the decision.

“We presented our case as we intended to do and Judge Whiteman had a lot of information to review. He took the time to study the case law we presented, as well as the case law presented by the defense,” the DA said.

It’s possible that Yuhasz’s case may be moved to a juvenile court, which Marino said would limit the severity of any punishment imposed on him.

The decision to transfer the case out of the Court of Common Pleas will ultimately be decided by a juvenile court judge, the county’s top prosecutor explained.

A trial date has not yet been set.