La Plata, MD – An early December motor vehicle crash that claimed the life of a Charles County woman has led to the indictment of a Newburg man. According to the Maryland State Police (MSP), a Charles County grand jury handed down a five-count indictment Friday, June 1 against Daniel Juwan Butler, 22. The crash during the early morning hours of Dec. 7 claimed the life of Taylor Anne Halbleib, 21 of Hughesville (pictured, right).
Butler was indicted on charges of grossly negligent manslaughter by vehicle, negligent homicide by vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, negligent homicide by vehicle while under the influence of alcohol per se, driving under the influence of alcohol per se and driving under the influence of alcohol. Butler (pictured, below) was taken into custody without incident Friday, June 1 shortly before 5 p.m. He is being held in the detention center and awaiting a bond review. That hearing is scheduled for Monday, June 4 at 2 p.m.
According to the MSP report issued last December, Halbleib had just left work and was traveling east on Route 6 west of Cooksey Road, driving a Hyundai Elantra. Butler was driving a 2004 Ford F-150 and also traveling east on Route 6. Police reported the Elantra had stopped and was rear-ended by the Ford F-150. The impact pushed the Hyundai into a Honda Odyssey. Halbleib and Butler to the University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center. Halbleib died a short time later. A passenger in the F-150 was flown to Prince George’s Hospital Center. The driver of the Honda was not injured.
Halbleib was a 2014 graduate of La Plata High School. At the time of her death she was a student at the College of Southern Maryland and had hopes of becoming a police officer like her father.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com