UNC football player charged in connection with deadly crash appears in court

Zachary Rice, a UNC football player who faces charges in connection with a Jan. 21 deadly crash that killed a fellow student, appeared in court Thursday.

Rice, 20, a student and football player at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is charged with possession of alcohol under the age of 21, driving after consuming alcohol under the age of 21 and speeding.

Rice was not in the car that crashed on Jan. 21, killing 21-year-old UNC student Molly Rotunda, but court documents show his car was just 15 yards behind the car Rotunda was inside, which was traveling 124 mph.

Rice and his attorney on Thursday were inside an Orange County Courtroom for his first court appearance. Rice did not speak at all during the hearing. Rice also declined to speak with WRAL News outside the courtroom.

Seven people face charges related to the crash, including another UNC student, Flemeeja Brewer, 20, who was driving the car Rotunda was inside, and Brianna Pinson, a passenger. Brewer and Pinson survived the crash.

Employees of the Still Life bar in Chapel Hill are also charged in connection to the crash, which involved alcohol consumed by minors.

Rice's next court date was scheduled for April 19.

In February, a search warrant for the 2014 Mercedes Benz E350 driven by Brewer, revealed the car went off the road and struck a concrete culvert, which caused it to overturn at the intersection of Raleigh Road and East Barbee Chapel Road.

Officers who responded to the Jan. 21 crash found the Mercedes "overturned in the grass," and an investigative report from the Office of the State Medical Examiner said Rotunda “was pulled from the backseat of the car by the bystanders who were traveling behind the vehicle before it crashed.”

Rotunda went into cardiac arrest while in an ambulance and was pronounced dead a short time later.

Documents indicated Brewer, who survived the crash and faces multiple felony charges, admitted to driving the car and drinking a "Lemon Drop" cocktail at the bar Still Life before the deadly crash.

A search warrant for Brewer's medical records from UNC Hospital said her blood alcohol content was 0.15 (the state's legal limit is 0.08) at the time of the crash.

WRAL News previously learned that racing may have been a factor in the crash, which is further supported by the documents.