(Stillwater, Okla.) – All charges filed in connection with a fatal head-on collision on Highway 51 east of Stillwater were dropped last week due to the recent death of the defendant, who allegedly had been at a bar north of Cushing prior to the 2014 crash that took two lives and injured two others. James Johnson Goblet, 23, of Stillwater, who was charged with two counts of first-degree manslaughter and two counts of causing an injury accident while under the influence of alcohol, was accused of driving a black 2014 Dodge pickup truck westbound in the eastbound lane of the highway when his vehicle struck a black 2015 Volkswagon Beetle head-on at 11:47 p.m. on Oct. 24, 2014, court records show.
The Volkswagon driver, McKala Miner, 29, of Pawnee, was transported by air to the OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City in critical condition with multiple injuries and later died, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported. Her passenger, a five-year-old girl from Pawnee, whose name was not released, died at the scene, the OHP said.
Another Volkswagon passenger, Forrest Charles Stol, 23, of Glencoe was airlifted to St. John Medical Center in Tulsa with multiple injuries, the OHP said. A passenger in the defendant’s pickup, Clint M. Hobbs, 26, of Cushing, was transported by ambulance to the Stillwater Medical Center before being flown to Mercy Hospital with unknown injuries, the OHP said.
According to court records, Goblet was released on $40,000 bail three days after the collision on the condition that he surrender his passport and wear a GPS monitor. Goblet waived his right to a preliminary hearing in April and last appeared in court with his attorney on June 5, records show.
OHP Trooper Anthony Harper, who investigated the collision, alleged in an affidavit that when he asked Goblet what happened, “he advised me that he went to the Double J bar on SH 18 north of Cushing to pick up a buddy and was taking him home because he had been drinking.”
When Harper asked Goblet how much he had to drink, “He stated he drank a few. I asked him how many was a few and he replied three to four beers after he got off work at 12:30,” the trooper alleged in his affidavit.
Goblet “told me he thought maybe he fell asleep while he was driving,” the trooper alleged in his affidavit.
At the Payne County Jail, Goblet was given a breath test which showed his alcohol level to be .16, the affidavit alleged.
Sheriff’s Deputy Chris McKosato found two guns in Goblet’s pickup, a Mossberg 500 .12-gauge shotgun on the rear passenger compartment and a loaded subcompact Glock 40 in a cubby hole in the center of the dashboard, the affidavit alleged.
No details were available regarding Goblet’s recent death.
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