The Cana man charged with DUI and manslaughter in the Oct. 17, 2008 wreck that killed a North Carolina woman in Woodlawn has waived his preliminary hearing.

Stephen Edwin Towe, 41, appeared in Carroll County General District Court on Feb. 17 before Judge Edward M. Turner, III on several charges relating to the accident last year. According to the Virginia State Police reports, the accident occurred as the 2001 Oldsmobile Aurora that Towe was driving struck a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt driven by Ashley Nicole Whitaker on Woodlawn Road. Passenger Jessica Ruth Bowyer, 26, of Middlesex, N.C., was killed at the scene of the accident.

After the accident, Towe was charged with a misdemeanor offense of driving under the influence of alcohol, aggravated involuntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, felony reckless driving, possession of marijuana, driving with a revoked license, a felony count of not wearing a seat belt, and two counts of maiming another.

Towe waived his preliminary hearing for the felonies in the case. Those charges will go before a Carroll County Grand Jury on March 16.

Turner found Towe guilty of the misdemeanor charges — the DUI charge, possession of marijuana, and driving on a suspended license. Towe remains incarcerated in New River Valley Regional Jail.