VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A man charged with involuntary manslaughter in a fatal crash in 2019 in Virginia Beach has been acquitted.
Austin Foley, who was 18 when he crashed his truck in July 2019 on South Parliament Drive, was acquitted on the manslaughter charge after a trial in Virginia Beach Circuit Court Wednesday.
The crash killed 17-year-old Nikita de Groot, a rising senior at Cox High School. Police said speed was a factor and none of the three people in the truck Foley was driving were wearing seat belts.
Foley was previously found guilty of reckless driving, no seatbelt and driving while unlicensed in Virginia Beach General District Court in September 2020 in connection with the crash. He was sentenced to a six-month active jail term, but he appealed the convictions to circuit court.
Shortly after his sentencing in general district court, Foley was indicted in circuit court on an involuntary manslaughter charge.
Foley withdrew his appeal on the general district court convictions on Wednesday prior to his trial.
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