ELLSWORTH, Maine — A Virginia tourist charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of a Bar Harbor woman last month has died, officials said Monday.
Justin Shell, 36, of Harrisonburg, Virginia, died on Oct. 18. Superior Court Judge Michael Roberts dismissed the charges against Shell on Monday, court officials said.
Shell’s attorney, Wayne Foote of Bangor, called Shell’s death a tragedy for his family.
The cause and manner of Shell’s death are undetermined, according to officials at the Virginia Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Roanoke, Virginia. The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office investigation is continuing.
[Lawyer: Fatal Bar Harbor crash ‘a tragedy, not a crime’]
Shell “appeared to be having a seizure” when Bar Harbor police found him in his pickup truck “seconds” after it hit and dragged Connie Birkenmeier, 76, in the parking lot of The Chart Room restaurant off Route 3 in Bar Harbor on Sept. 12, police have said.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shell was charged with manslaughter, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon — the truck — and driving to endanger. Police arrested him after he admitted that he was sleep-deprived after driving alone for more than 1,300 miles over three days.
Police later found marijuana, synthetic marijuana and pills in his pickup truck.
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