Driver charged with DUI in weekend fatality near Wilmington

A driver is behind bars charged with vehicular homicide and other offenses in connection with an accident that claimed the life of a man who was waiting for a bus near Wilmington.

State Police say the accident occurred Saturday shortly before 8:30 a.m. during a snowstorm on Philadelphia Pike north of Edgemoor Road.  Troopers say 26-year-old Elton Paynter of Philadelphia was traveling at a high rate of speed when he veered across the oncoming lanes of traffic.  His car spun around, struck two trees and a man who was standing at a DART bus stop.  The car struck several other objects, including a parked SUV, before it came to rest. 

52-year-old Vincent Williams of Wilmington was pronounced dead at the scene.  Two passengers in Paynter’s vehicle were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.  One of them was subsequently charged with possession of six grams of marijuana and a stun gun.  

Paynter is charged with vehicular homicide, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a suspended license.  He was being held at the Howard Young Prison on $11,000 cash bail.  The accident and investigation closed Philadelphia Pike at the scene for about four-and-a-half hours.