JACKSON COUNTY, Georgia (CelebrityAccess) — A van carrying members of two touring heavy metal bands—Khaotika and Wormreich-crashed early Monday morning, leaving 3 people dead and 8 injured.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, police investigators believe that 27-year-old Khaotika member and Athens resident Sergio Quesada, fell asleep while driving on I-85 southbound and veered off the road, striking a tree. Three people were pronounced dead at the scene: Wormreich guitarist Ian Andrew McKinney (AKA Nazgul Vathran), bassist Paul Truesdell and Khaotika drummer Nicholas Crisostomo (AKA Dyret).
The accident also left 8 people injured, three listed as critically. Those injured were: Matthew A. Shaner, 31, of Silver Springs, Md.; Jasmine Zarinebaf, 19, of Naperville, Ill.; Kamilla Hayes, 44, of Norcross; Patricia Shoemaker, 49, of Jonesboro; Christopher Pezzano, 45, of Toney, Ala.; Christopher E. Pyle, 27, of Owensboro, Ky.; James C. Berile, 25, of Leesburg, Va.; and Stephen K. Shoemaker, 53, of Jonesboro.
The groups were concluding a short tour with another metal group, Kult ov Azazel, and a Monday night show at The Basement, a venue on the lower level of East Atlanta Village’s Graveyard Tavern, was canceled in the wake of the accident.
A benefit concert that had been announced shortly after the crash has also been put on hold indefinitely at the request of the families.
A Facebook statement from Wormreich founder and frontman Christopher Earl Pyle (AKA Vulk) said: "This morning I lost my brother and best friend, along with two awesome people that I was lucky to have even known for a short while. Two of my other brothers remain in critical condition. Somehow I was spared with only superficial wounds and a dislocated shoulder. This is not the end of Wormreich. It's always been my vision, but more importantly, it is for those whom I have lost today that it MUST continue. Please send healing energy to the members of Wormreich, Khaotika, and their families. Ave." – Staff Writers
