Edgewater Crash that Killed Newlyweds Leads to Homicide Charges

Edgewater, MD — The driver who crashed head-on into a young couple’s car Feb. 14 near Edgewater — killing both newlyweds — has been arrested on charges that she was impaired by drugs at the time of the collision.

Anne Arundel County Police say a Honda Civic driven by Daniel Brian Amos, 21, of California, Maryland was struck by a Toyota Camry driven by Lauren Renee Scott, 27, formerly of Edgewater and now of North Beach. A third vehicle struck the cars, causing Amos’ Honda to overturn on Solomons Island Road near Swallow Lane in Edgewater.

Daniel Amos died at the scene, while his wife, Kayla Nicole Amos, 20, died the next morning at Shock Trauma in Baltimore. The couple was out celebrating their six-month wedding anniversary at the time of the crash.

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Police on Tuesday arrested Scott for driving under the influence of a drug (marijuana and opiates) and/or controlled dangerous substance which directly contributed to the crash and the subsequent deaths of Daniel and Kayla Amos.

Scott is being held on $675,000 bail at the Jennifer Road Detention Center pending a bail review.

She faces two counts of each of the following for causing the deaths of the Amoses:

• Homicide by motor vehicle while impaired-drugs
• Homicide by motor vehicle while impaired-CDS
• Negligent manslaughter - automobile
• Criminally negligent manslaughter by motor vehicle

Authorities have also cited Scott with single counts of these traffic violations: Reckless driving, negligent driving and failure to remain right of center.

The couple was remembered by family and friends at Chesapeake Church in Huntingtown, where Dan Amos was an arts and music leader. Kayla was an emerging leader on the hospitality team, church leaders said.

Kayla Amos worked at Maertens Fine Jewelry & Gifts, where she had been recently promoted, owner Heather Maertens told the Capital-Gazette.

“They were just getting started,” Maertens told the newspaper. “She was saying how fun it was to go to stores now that she had her own house. She was having fun with all the newlywed stuff.”

On the church Facebook page, Senior Pastor Robert P. Hahn wrote of the couple: “The heartache of this loss is compounded not only by Dan and Kayla’s youth, 21 and 20 respectively, but also by the fact that they were married for only six months. The sadness both their families are experiencing cannot be expressed in words.”

»Photo of Lauren Scott, courtesy of Anne Arundel County Police