(CBS-DETROIT) – The woman rushed into the crash at Swan Boat Club in Monroe County in April, which killed two young children and injured several others, had a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit.
Marshella Chidester, 66, appeared for her preliminary hearing in District Court on Thursday. A deputy judge testified that her blood alcohol content on the day of the accident was 0.18.
The legal limit in the state is .08 and a .17 is considered high.
The officer’s bodycam footage played in court showed Chidester telling the officer she could not remember what happened during the crash. She thought she was driving to the boat club, but had “apparently driven into the pavilion,” according to the Detroit Free Press.
Chidester was brought for trial.
After the crash, she told authorities that she had been drinking wine 30 minutes earlier and that she had also been suffering from seizures.
The victims who died in the crash included 8-year-old Alanah Phillips and 4-year-old Zayn Phillips. Nine of the 15 victims of the crash suffered serious injuries.
Chidester was indicted on charges of second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury.
During her arraignment, Chidester’s attorney said she had a bowl of chili and a glass of wine at Verna’s Bar and Grill on April 20 between 11 a.m. and noon. This would have been three to four hours before the crash occurred.
The mother of the siblings who died in the crash, Mariah Dodds has filed a lawsuit against Chidester and the bar where she was, and seven more victims later joined the lawsuit.
