CT man charged with manslaughter in 2023 fatal crash in a 1967 sports car that had no seatbelts
State police have charged a man in connection with a fatal crash in Connecticut in October.
Ian Morgan Gillis, 35, of Griswold is charged with second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle, reckless driving and failure to drive on right side of the road, according to Connecticut State Police.
After turning himself in at the Troop D barracks in Danielson, Gillis was released on $125,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned in Danielson Superior Court next Monday.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, the charges stem from a crash on Oct. 9, 2023, in Pomfret that killed 35-year-old Elisha Roode of Waterford.
Roode was a passenger in the 1967 Triumph GT6 that Gillis was driving south on Route 169 shortly before 8:30 p.m. when he lost control of the vehicle around a right curve in the road, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. The vehicle went into a “clockwise yaw” before striking a metal guardrail.
The car continued out of control and struck a tree before coming to rest in a gulley, the warrant affidavit said.
State police said Roode was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy would later show she died of a blunt impact injury to her head. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled her death an accident.
Gillis was airlifted to UMass Memorial Medical Center and treated for serious injuries, the warrant affidavit said.
According to the warrant affidavit, a trooper who responded to the crash reported seeing three beer cans in the Triumph, some of which still had liquid in them.
State police were able to speak to a witness during the investigation who said Gillis had told them he had allegedly consumed “a couple alcoholic beverages,” the warrant affidavit said.
State police subpoenaed Gillis’ medical records and found that his blood alcohol content was 0.07. The legal limit to drive in Connecticut is 0.08.
A simulation of the crash conducted by the State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Squad showed that the vehicle was traveling somewhere between 70 and 74 mph during the collision in a 35 mph zone.
An inspection of the Triumph showed that it was not equipped with seatbelts, state police wrote.
An attorney representing Gillis told investigators that Gillis would not be giving them a statement about the crash, the warrant affidavit said.
According to an obituary, Roode grew up in Griswold and held multiple jobs before landing a job at Citizens Bank in Mystic.
“Her supervisors, co-workers, and clients often speak of how she lit up the room and will remember her fondly,” the obituary states.
Roode had a passion for exploration and music and was “often found traveling across New England going on hikes and following her favorite musical artists in concert,” according to the obituary.
“To say she knew how to live each moment to the fullest is an understatement,” the obituary states.
Roode was honored during a hike in November at Haley Farm State Park in Groton that was organized by her family.