Raleigh man formally charged in fatal St. Patrick's Day collision

Ray Norman Rouse IV, 34, was driving west in an eastbound lane of Wade Avenue shortly after 1 p.m. on March 17 when he struck head-on a car driven by Ormond Jackson Bailey.

Bailey, 83, and his wife, Gaynell Batton Bailey, 79, died from their injuries at WakeMed.

Rouse was released from the hospital shortly before 11:30 a.m. and officially charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of felony death by motor vehicle.

Search warrants indicate that Rouse reportedly had left a brunch prior to the wreck and had been drinking. According to a wreck report, he was traveling 43 mph in a 35 mph zone and had a blood-alcohol content of .17.

Because of injuries he suffered, Rouse made his first court appearance via closed-circuit video Thursday afternoon, where a judge kept his bond at $2 million.

He was then taken to Central Prison in Raleigh where he will continue to receive care for injuries he suffered in the wreck.

"He's not out of the woods yet," his defense attorney, Matt Faucette, said.

Faucette said Rouse suffered two broken legs, a broken arm, broken ribs and two head injuries that put him into a medically induced coma for at least three weeks and that he has rods in his body from hips to his toes.

Neither Rouse nor his family is seeking a bond reduction, Faucette said, nor do they plan to seek release.

The Baileys' children, meanwhile, did appear in court and said they had hoped he would have appeared in person and that they are committed to seeing justice in the case and have filed a civil suit against Rouse.

According to court records, Rouse pleaded guilty to driving while impaired in Durham County after a September 2001 arrest. Similar charges were dismissed against him in Wake County in April 2005 and February 2006.