Neurosurgeon charged with manslaughter after car crash kills Alabama med student

Spine

Police in Mobile, Ala., have charged neurosurgeon Jonathan Nakhla, MD, with manslaughter in connection with a single-car crash this month that killed a third-year medical student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Fox 10 TV reports.

Dr. Nakhla's blood alcohol level was found to be above the legal limit, the Mobile Police Department told Fox 10 TV.

Police identified the neurosurgeon as the driver of a car that crashed into a ditch Aug 1 on an Interstate 65 service road. He was taken to a local hospital with injuries that did not threaten his life, but medical student Samantha Alison Thomas, 24, who was riding in the passenger seat, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators believe Dr. Nakhla was driving 138 miles per hour at the time of the crash, the news outlet reported. His attorney denied this.

During an Aug. 12 hearing, a judge set the 36-year-old's bond at $200,000, required him to surrender his passport and prohibited him from leaving the state of Alabama.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 2.

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