Stopher arraigned on manslaughter, assault charges

Aug. 28--LAUREL COUNTY -- A Laurel man accused of causing his wife's death in a vehicle accident while he was under the influence of intoxicants was arraigned in Laurel Circuit Court on Monday.

Joshua Allen Stopher, 38, of Corbin, appeared before Laurel Circuit Judge Greg Lay to answer charges of second-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault, driving under the influence of intoxicants, driving a motor vehicle on suspended or revoked driver's license, failure to maintain motor vehicle insurance and second-degree persistent felony offender.

Stopher was the driver of a vehicle involved in a crash on South Laurel Road in November 2018. His wife, Charity Stopher, died at the scene of the crash that also caused injury to an oncoming driver, according to the reports filed by law enforcement. Stopher too was injured and remained hospitalized for several days following the crash.

Stopher was not present in Laurel Circuit Court on the day the indictment was returned but he was taken into custody later that afternoon of Aug. 16.

He is now scheduled to appear for a pretrial hearing on September 23. Stopher's bond remains at $50,000 cash.

Stopher lists previous legal history, according to records from the Laurel County Correctional Center's website. He was charged with first-degree trafficking in controlled substance, third-degree trafficking in controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence and public intoxication of controlled substance in 2010. He has had six other arrests since then, most of which indicate he was remanded from court and/or from drug court.

njohnson@sentinel-echo.com

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