Stonington ― State police charged a Voluntown man with manslaughter Friday in connection with an April 2023 crash on Interstate 95 that killed Kevin Hesch, 39, of Pawcatuck.

Michael R. LaChapelle, 34, of 319 Beach Pond Road, Voluntown, was charged with second-degree manslaughter, interfering with a police officer, driving while using a hand-held device, following too closely, failure to drive in the proper lane and traveling too fast for conditions. His bond was initially set at $200,000 bond and he is scheduled to appear in New London Superior Court March 19.

According to police, three vehicles were traveling south in the vicinity of Exit 91 around 9 a.m. on April 4 when traffic began to back up due to road construction.

That’s when Lachapelle’s Toyota Tundra struck Hesch’s vehicle, a Volvo S60, which went into the wire rope guardrail and down an embankment in the center median. Lachapelle then hit a Toyota Sienna van that was traveling in front of the Volvo, and then crashed into the guardrail and went down the embankment.

Hesch was taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead 51 minutes after the crash.

Lachapelle sustained minor injuries and the driver and passenger of the Sienna, both from Virginia, were not injured. All four people involved were wearing seatbelts.

In the affidavit for Lachapelle’s arrest warrant, police said he deleted messaging apps, messages. conversations and his location history before police were able to obtain a search warrant for his cellphone. Police said some of the data was recovered.