70-Year-Old Man Charged In Fiery Crash That Killed Pregnant Woman
SOUTHFIELD (WWJ/AP) - A 70-year-old man has been charged in a fiery freeway crash that killed a 23-year-old pregnant Ferndale woman and her unborn son.
The Oakland County prosecutor's office says Clarence Heath, of Beverly Hills, is charged with a misdemeanor of careless driving causing death. He's due in court Friday for arraignment. If convicted as charged, he faces up to a year in jail.
Police say Kayla White was driving north on the Lodge Freeway in Southfield in November when her Jeep Liberty was rear-ended. The SUV was pushed into two other vehicles before rolling and catching fire. White died at the scene.
Heath's lawyer Douglas Hampton says in a statement his client is devastated, calling it a "very unfortunate and tragic accident."
Michigan State Police say the incident started as a chain reaction crash. An initial investigation revealed that traffic was slowing in the right lane of M-10 near Telegraph when Heath, who police say "was not paying attention," struck White's 2003 Jeep Liberty.
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The collision forced White's vehicle into a 2014 Nissan Cube, which then struck a 2015 Lincoln MKZ. The impact of that crash caused White's vehicle to overturn and catch fire. Despite efforts by several Good Samaritans, White was unable to escape and died trapped inside her burning vehicle. No other injuries were reported.
White's father, Robert, remembered encountering the accident scene as he drove around looking for his daughter after receiving a call that she never arrived for work that day.
"The car was, you know, upside down…they wouldn't let me get near the car," he said. "But (it was) devastating. I was hoping that I'd see her on the side of the road with a flat tire is what I expected — not that."
White was a 2009 graduate of Ferndale High School. According to her Facebook profile, White would have given birth to her first child — a boy she planned to name Braedin Joseph — in December.
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