Driver in fatal Michigan boat club crash had blood alcohol level twice the legal limit, reportedly
(CBS DETROIT) - The woman charged in the crash at the Swan Boat Club in Monroe County in April that killed two young children and injured several others reportedly had a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit.
Marshella Chidester, 66, appeared in district court Thursday for her preliminary examination, where a deputy testified that her blood alcohol was 0.18 on the day of the crash.
The legal limit in the state is 0.08 and a 0.17 is considered high.
The deputy's body camera footage the was played in court showed Chidester telling the deputy that she didn't remember what happened during the crash, and she thought she was driving up to the boat club, but had "evidently driven into the pavilion," according to the Detroit Free Press.
Chidester was bound over for trial.
After the crash, she told authorities that she had consumed wine 30 minutes before then and also experienced seizures.
The victims killed in the crash include 8-year-old Alanah Phillips and 4-year-old Zayn Phillips. Nine of the 15 victims in the crash sustained serious injuries.
Chidester was arraigned on the charges of second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injuries.
During her arraignment, Chidester's attorney said that she had consumed a bowl of chili and a glass of wine at Verna's Bar and Grill in between 11 a.m. and noon on April 20. This would have been three to four hours before the crash happened.
The mother of the siblings killed in the crash, Mariah Dodds, filed a lawsuit against Chidester and the bar she was at, and seven more victims joined the lawsuit later on.
