Joshua Nassaru Ward — drummer for the rising North Carolina dying steel band Voraath — was killed together with three others by a drunk driver on New 12 months’s Eve.
The tragic incident happened in Greenville, South Carolina, simply after 9 p.m. on Tuesday night time (December thirty first). The 37-year-old Ward, his fiancee Zelena, and two others have been pulling out a driveway in a Subaru SUV after they have been struck by a 2012 BMW pushed by 31-year-old Nicholas Shane Meeks.
The crash despatched the Subaru off the highway and right into a tree, killing all 4 occupants of Ward’s car. Meeks was detained and charged on 4 counts of felony DUI. He’s being held with out bond.
Based on Greenville Information, Meeks had been driving with a suspended license, having been booked on DUI prices for a separate incident in March 2024.
A GoFundMe has been arrange for Ward, with greater than $16,000 raised as of this posting.
After introducing themselves with a sequence of singles from 2021 by way of 2023, Voraath launched their debut full-length album, Vol 1: The Hymn of the Hunters, in June 2024. The band had celebrated its accomplishments simply hours earlier than the crash, noting their current recognition in a Fb put up earlier on New 12 months’s Eve.
Ward himself posted a photograph of himself and his younger son on Fb that day, wishing everybody a cheerful new 12 months. Our condolences exit to his household, pals, and bandmates, in addition to to the households and pals of the opposite victims, throughout this troublesome time.
A video of Ward performing a drum playthrough might be seen beneath, together with a information report on the tragic automobile crash.