Charges against a Waynesboro teen accused of causing a fatal car accident last year were certified Thursday to a grand jury during a preliminary hearing in Augusta County General District Court.

Jason Steidel, 18, is facing felony charges of driving under the influence and involuntary manslaughter in a Dec. 12 wreck that killed Crimora resident Timothy Moran, 19.

State police estimate Steidel's 2002 Ford Mustang was traveling 100 mph on Route 612 near Crimora when the vehicle went off the right side of the road on a slight curve. The driver overcorrected, and the car flipped several times, smashing into a fence. Moran was ejected from the vehicle, and died at the scene. At least two other passengers were in the car at the time of the wreck.

The question of which one was actually driving may figure prominently in Steidel's defense strategy.

State Police Trooper John Carpenter, who responded to the accident, testified that when he arrived at the scene Jason Steidel told him a man named Travis Johnson had been driving, and was ejected from the vehicle along with Moran. Police searched the area but found no one.

Carpenter also testified that a blood sample collected from the car's center console did not come from Steidel, according to a lab test.

Zachary Carpenter, 20, who police say was in the front passenger seat at the time of the crash, testified that he did not know anyone named Travis Johnson, and that Steidel was the driver. Under cross-examination, Carpenter confirmed that he had earlier made a sworn statement before an Augusta County magistrate indicating that Steidel had not, in fact, been driving.

In that statement, made a month after the accident, Carpenter said an 18-year-old female — who police say was riding in the backseat — was actually the driver. Carpenter changed his story in another statement before the magistrate a short time later, and alleged that Steidel's parents had coerced his initial statement.

Carpenter also testified Thursday that all the passengers had been drinking heavily shortly before the accident. Steidel's blood alcohol content was .07 percent, according to court documents. The legal limit in Virginia is 0.08 percent. Because of zero-tolerance laws for minors, the presence of alcohol in any quantity is sufficient for prosecution, Waynesboro police Sgt. Kelly Walker said.

Krystal Lotts, 31, Timothy Moran's stepmother, attended the hearing along with several family members. She said the continuing uncertainty about the driver's identity has been frustrating.

"We need the truth so that we can have closure and start our healing," Lotts said.