Where did suspect go after festival?

Steven Andrew Boyce

SteveStock organizer says Boyce left hours before collision

By Alex Bridges -- abridges@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- The Frederick County man involved in a crash that killed a family of four Sunday morning attended an overnight festival, but left hours before the deadly incident, an event organizer said Friday.

What happened between the time when Steven Andrew Boyce left the SteveStock music and camping event at Frederick County Fairgrounds and the crash several hours later, at 11:30 a.m., remains unknown.

Organizers of the festival, through comments on media websites covering the crash, have expressed sorrow for the victims. Event organizer Steve Gallahan could not be reached for comment Friday.

Boyce was seen at SteveStock the night of June 25 and the next morning, organizer Dianna Bankson said.

Bankson said she went to sleep at 3:30 a.m. Sunday, and "at that time everything had gone fine."

"Police had been in and out all day and all evening," Bankson recalled. "But like I said, we had 'no alcohol' signs posted and the police came through probably a dozen times that day."

"They had a constant presence at the festival," she said, noting the Frederick County Sheriff's Office monitored the event.

Music ended at 11 p.m., but campers remained at the site into the next morning, according to Bankson, who considered the festival a success.

The event, which had grown from one held in the organizers' backyard to the fairgrounds, helped raise money for a local cancer patient, she noted. People came from out of the area to camp overnight after the music.

The Frederick County Board of Supervisors voted at an earlier meeting to allow SteveStock organizers an outdoor festival permit that came with some restrictions for the event.

SteveStock had to provide its own security, and could host live music until 11 p.m.
Maj. Robert "Robbie" Eckman, with the Frederick County Sheriff's Office, said Friday that a shift supervisor made periodic checks by the festival that night but officers did not constantly monitor the event as that was the responsibility of the private security.

Law enforcement did respond to the event at approximately midnight for possibly underage people drinking alcohol on top of a vehicle, Eckman said. However, when deputies arrived, they found two people, both underage, playing with empty beer bottles and not drinking, Eckman said.

During the day, a security guard confronted Boyce who, at the time, appeared to have a beverage, Bankson said. The guard took a sip of the drink to see if it contained alcohol but determined it only had soda in it, Bankson said.

Boyce at some point returned to his vehicle and left the event with the person he came with as the driver, Bankson said, earlier noting she did not personally see this happen but had heard the account from others.

"Then, about five to six hours later, that [crash] happened," Bankson said.

"Like I said I was actually asleep during the time," she said. "I did wake up when they said there's something going on."

"There's nothing to say what [Boyce] did during that five hours," Bankson added.

Authorities have charged Boyce, 20, of 221 Hawk Trail, Shawneeland, with aggravated involuntary manslaughter, underage possession of alcohol and driving under the influence.

Court documents state a preliminary breath test performed on Boyce showed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.27 percent -- more than three times the legal limit.

State police reports say Boyce drove a 1985 Chevrolet pickup that rear-ended a 1994 Jeep Cherokee on U.S. 11 near the Interstate 81 interchange in Stephenson. The impact of the collision caused the Cherokee's fuel tank to rupture and the vehicle caught fire.

Amanda Roe, 31, and her husband, Mark, 49, died in the crash along with their children, Caleb, 11, and Tyler, 4.

Boyce remains held without bond at Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center.