Glassport man pleads guilty to killing man in high-speed crash in North Versailles

A Glassport man who was driving nearly 100 mph last year when he crashed into a car in North Versailles, killing the driver, pleaded guilty Tuesday to homicide by vehicle and other charges, authorities said.

Shamar Allyn Roach, 25, was driving a van about 95 mph when the crash happened around 11 p.m. March 2, 2022, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case. After driving through stop signs and red lights, he slammed into an SUV at Fifth Avenue and Congress Street, killing John Semenko, 59, of White Oak.

Roach pleaded guilty Tuesday to homicide by vehicle, recklessly endangering another person and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, records show.

Other charges — including involuntary manslaughter, four more DUI counts, reckless driving, careless driving resulting in unintentional death and exceeding the speed limit by 55 mph — were withdrawn in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, records show.

Roach is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 8.

Attorney Thomas A. Will, who represents Roach, was not immediately available for comment. The Allegheny County District Attorney’s office declined to comment on the case.

Police said a witness called 911 just before the crash to report an erratic driver in a white van. She said the van passed her while running a red light, the complaint said.

A second witness told police she feared for her life as the van approached her from behind at a high rate of speed, saying she believed the van was traveling “twice the speed limit (and) she thought she was going to die,” the complaint said.

The second woman said she saw a truck begin to pull out from Congress Street and “knew it wouldn’t make it” because the van was traveling at such a high rate of speed, according to the complaint.

Surveillance footage from two nearby businesses showed Roach’s white van running a stop sign at Largo Way and a red light at Greensburg Avenue, the complaint said.

Police said Roach, who was injured in the crash, tested positive for THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.084%, just above the legal limit of 0.08%.

Crash data from Roach’s van showed that the vehicle sped up in the seconds before the crash, the complaint said. Five seconds before the crash, it hit 82 mph. Two seconds before the crash, 92 mph, and one second before, 95 mph.

The brakes were not applied until less than one second before the crash, investigators wrote.

Semenko graduated in 1980 from East Allegheny High School in North Versailles and later from Forbes Road Vocational School, according to an online obituary. He was described as an avid gardener and an animal lover.