A Slatington man has been charged in a crash that occurred nearly a year ago in Whitehall Township that resulted in the deaths of three people, including his mother.

The crash also killed a woman and her teen son, according to testimony given during a preliminary hearing Thursday for John Edward Mayer, 32, of the 6000 block of Bottom Road.Mayer had a preliminary hearing last week before District Judge Robert Halal, at which time he was charged with three counts each of homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless endangerment, along with several traffic offenses.Halal ruled that Mayer must face trail in Lehigh County Court on those charges. Mayer is free on unsecured bail.Mayer's attorney, Joshua Karoly, argued his client had a seizure and was unconscious when he crashed, with his foot pressed on the gas pedal, according to published reports.A Lehigh County prosecutor responded that doctors had warned Mayer that he had to take his medication to control his epilepsy, and investigators found unfilled prescriptions in his truck, according to reports.Reportedly Mayer's license was pulled twice on medical recalls, once after he crashed into a barn while having a seizure in 2003, according to reports.Three Whitehall police officers testified during the hearing, according to reports. Several motorists who witnessed the crash were available, but were not called to testify, the reports said.On Oct. 21, Mayer was charged with three counts of homicide by vehicle, a third-degree felony; three counts of involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree misdemeanor; three counts of recklessly endangering other people, a second-degree misdemeanor; and summary offenses of driving at an unsafe speed, reckless driving, careless driving resulting in unintentional death and failing to stop at a traffic signal.According to court records, Mayer was traveling at a minimum speed of 86 miles-per-hour in a 30 miles-per-hour zone when the crash happened.At 6:10 p.m. on Feb. 23, 2013, Whitehall Township Officer Richard Garner was on duty in his marked patrol vehicle and was stopped at a red traffic signal at MacArthur Road and Eberhart Road. Garner's vehicle was facing west on Eberhart Road, and a sedan was stopped in front of his patrol vehicle. When traffic on Eberhart Road got a green signal, the sedan began to enter the intersection in an attempt to turn left. A pick-up truck ran the northbound red signal, striking the sedan, police said.Both vehicles traveled north of the intersection for more than 100 feet. Garner immediately stopped his vehicle and tried to assist the occupants.Garner noticed a fire developing under the sedan containing two unresponsive occupants. Within seconds, the vehicle became engulfed in flames, preventing Garner from getting to the occupants. The occupants of the sedan the driver, George Sanchez Gonzalez, 16, and his mother, Sharon Gonzalez, 42 were killed.Mayer, who was driving the pick-up truck, got out of his vehicle and was walking around it. The front-seat passenger, Mayer's mother, Virginia Mayer, had life-threatening injuries.Mayer and his mother were taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Township. Mayer was admitted for non-life-threatening injuries.Virginia Mayer died in July, and an autopsy determined that she died from complications resulting from massive blunt force trauma that was a direct result of the crash. Several witnesses who were interviewed told police that the pick-up truck was traveling at a high speed and entered the intersection even though there was a steady red signal in his lane of travel. At the time of the crash, the section of highway was under construction, and there were signs warning motorists that they were in a construction zone. The maximum speed had been reduced to 30 mph.