An intoxicated driver used to be charged with murder after crashing right into a Michigan industry the place a kid’s birthday party used to be being held and killing two young siblings, the Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office introduced Tuesday.
Marshella Chidester, 66, hit a construction at Swan Boat Club in Berlin Charter Township round 3 p.m. on Saturday. It got here to a forestall 25 ft within the place the party used to be going down, Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough informed newshounds Saturday.
In an arraignment listening to Tuesday, Chidester used to be charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of running drunk inflicting loss of life and 4 counts of running drunk inflicting critical harm. Her bond used to be set at $1.5 million.
Zayn Phillips, 5, and his sister, Alanah Phillips, 8, had been declared lifeless on the scene, Goodnough stated in an replace Monday. Authorities didn’t explain if the party used to be for both of the youngsters.
A 3rd sibling survived with “critical accidents,” according to Andrew Brodie, the superintendent of Flat Rock Community Schools, an area public school district.
At the arraignment, Bill Colovos, an attorney for Chidester, said she has a history of epileptic seizures in her legs and lost control of the car when she crashed. He also said that his client only had one glass of wine four hours before the crash, according to a search warrant executed at the bar where she allegedly was.
“This isn’t a monster,” Colovos said about his client, adding that she doesn’t have a criminal history. “It’s terrible what took place, completely terrible. I’ve two kids. It’s completely terrible. But some issues we don’t have regulate over.”
A woman who identified herself as the grandmother of Zayn and Alanah spoke at the arraignment, accusing Chidester of drinking and driving.
“She selected to drink and pressure, and she took my grandbabies from us,” the woman said.
A woman who identified herself as the aunt of the two children said she was at the scene of the crash, and saw her niece and nephew in their final moments.
“They walked into that birthday party having a a laugh time,” she said. “They had been sitting at that desk, consuming, and this girl crashed her automotive thru this construction, destroying all of our lives. Not simply my circle of relatives, everybody else that used to be in that construction.”
She says her other nephew and her sister, the children’s mother, were hurt in the crash and are still fighting for their lives.
“I needed to be the only to inform my sister her young children had been long past after they got rid of her ventilator the day before today,” the woman said. “She stated ‘How am I intended to are living with out my young children?'”
“No one will have to ever have to visit a birthday party pondering that they’re gonna die,” she said tearfully.
Approximately 13 others were injured in the crash, Goodnough said on Saturday. Nine of those people, who range in age from 11 to 66-years-old, were hospitalized, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
The four other victims, who range in age from 57 to 70, had minor injuries. A 42-year-old man also received treatment on his own for minor injuries.