A Berkeley Springs woman has pled no contest to gross child neglect with risk of serious injury, and DUI with child.
Kathleen E. Virts, 31, was the driver in a single-vehicle collision that occurred on Green Oak Road at about 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 18, 2025, according to a criminal complaint filed in Morgan County Magistrate Court by West Virginia State Police Trooper G.C. Warnick.
At the scene, Trooper Warnick and Trooper Meyers observed a black SUV on the left side of the roadway. A utility pole was broken in half after being struck by the vehicle.
Four children under the age of 16 were in the vehicle at the time of the collision.
Two car seats in the vehicle were not secured with a locked seatbelt, and there were no booster seats in the vehicle, despite Virts’ claims to the contrary, according to the criminal complaint.
Virts claimed a truck was following her, and bumps in the road made her crash.
She was unaware of her location, and failed several field tests for sobriety, according to the criminal complaint.
Virts was placed under arrest and transported to War Memorial Hospital, where she consented to a blood draw.
Lab results revealed Virts had a high concentration of gabapentin, a prescription medicine affecting the nervous system, in her blood at the time of the collision.
Drivers arrested for drug impaired driving with similar levels of gabapentin in their system as Virts often drive erratically, exit the lane of travel, and crash, according to the lab report.
Virts is incarcerated at Eastern Regional Jail, where she awaits sentencing in court on June 29.
