Burgettstown Man Pleads Guilty In Traffic Fatality

A Burgettstown man who drove drunk causing an accident that killed his wife pleaded guilty on Tuesday. Stewart Wilson, 47, will serve five and a half years on probation for pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and DUI charges. Wilson was driving on Stuebenville Pike in April of 2022 when according to police he did not see a vehicle trying to make a turn. He tried to avoid the vehicle by passing it but sideswiped it, over-corrected his maneuver and crashed his car directly into a guide-rail. Both Wilson and his wife Denise Pierce-Wilson were ejected from the vehicle. Pierce-Wilson died of her injuries at Weirton Hospital, Wilson was flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. A blood draw at the hospital showed Wilson had a blood alcohol content of .088%, over the limit of .08% that assumes intoxication. A state police accident reconstruction unit determined that Wilson was driving at 65 mph at the time of the accident. Wilson avoided more serious homicide by vehicle charges. Several people wished to make victim impact statements before final sentencing. A sentencing hearing for Wilson is scheduled for March 25.