Why this local business owner pleaded guilty to role in fatal North Star crash in 2023

The night of Jan. 29, 2023, began as an exuberant one.

The Philadelphia Eagles had just won their NFC championship game against the San Francisco 49ers and were headed to the Super Bowl. Walter "Reds" Ferris, owner of Ferris Home Improvements, and his friends were celebrating.

Earlier in the day, the local business owner had helped organize a party bus that would allow the group to tailgate at Lincoln Financial Field. He later moved the party back to his North Star home. 

There, the revelry was set to continue – and it did, for a while. That is, until Ferris and several friends, including 47-year-old Jack Birch, hopped on a utility task vehicle and took it for a spin.

Ferris, who had been drinking and had marijuana in his system, got behind the wheel a little before 10 p.m. At some point during the ride around his sprawling, wooded property, he lost control and the UTV flipped. 

Birch, one of Ferris’ good friends and whose children grew up with Ferris’ kids, was killed. Ferris, now 48, and a 40-year-old man were taken to a nearby hospital with what police called “minor injuries.”

Nearly 18 months after festivity turned to tragedy – and two weeks before the case was set to go to trial – Ferris tearfully acknowledged his choices that night. On Monday in a New Castle County courtroom, he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors with an expected eight-month prison sentence.

Sentencing is set for September, though he was to report to prison Tuesday morning.

The initial charges and subsequent plea

Ferris was initially charged in June 2023. He faced four counts at the time: two felonies and two misdemeanors.

The felonies included criminally negligent homicide and vehicular homicide, while the misdemeanors were related to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

After months of negotiations – including final discussions in the hours before Monday’s plea – Ferris pleaded to operation of a vehicle causing death, an unclassified misdemeanor, and DUI. 

INITIAL STORY:Delaware home improvement business owner facing homicide charges in fatal off-road crash

His blood alcohol content when hospitalized after the crash was 0.165, more than double the legal limit. It’s his second lifetime DUI, the first occurring nearly 30 years ago, in May 1996.

Though he faces a maximum sentence of 42 months in prison for the two charges, prosecutors and Ferris’ defense attorney agreed to recommend eight months behind bars followed by 18 months probation.

If the sentencing judge follows the recommendation in September, Ferris will also be required to complete a DUI course, undergo a substance use evaluation, lose his license for at least a year (or more, depending on the Division of Motor Vehicles) and be forbidden to operate off-highway vehicles except on his property and without any passengers while on probation.

Should he violate these terms, he could spend up to 30 total months in prison.

Birch’s family attends court proceedings

From the rear of the courtroom Monday morning, two of Birch’s family members waited, then watched, as the plea finally got underway – about two hours after the daily court calendar began.

Their expressions were unreadable as they eyed Ferris, who was dressed in a fitted gray suit and green tie. He appeared contrite even before exiting the courtroom gallery and joining defense attorney Eugene Maurer at a wooden table before the judge, wiping tears from his eyes several times as he snaked his left arm around his wife’s shoulders.

She, too, was weepy as Ferris made his way next to Maurer, with a bailiff handing her a box of tissues.

While Ferris remained largely composed while answering the judge’s questions, including whether he was guilty – to which he quietly replied “yes” – his face crumpled and he again began to cry as the judge accepted the plea.

Soon after, Maurer noted the tragedy of the case, calling Ferris “disconsolate.”

Not only are Birch’s wife, children, parents, siblings, niece, nephews and countless friends mourning, Maurer suggested, but the 47-year-old was also “a close friend, a good friend” of the man who took his life.

To that end, Maurer said, he and Ferris were requesting that the 48-year-old’s bail be revoked at 10 a.m. Tuesday so he could begin serving the yet-to-be-determined prison sentence.

“It's all very difficult for everyone,” Maurer said. “He’d like to get started with his punishment.”

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