The woman from Michigan has been charged with manslaughter and driving while intoxicated and struck with a homicide after killing two young children when she crashed her car into a birthday party.
Relatives Alanah Phillips, 8, and Zayn Phillips, 5, were the two casualties in the Saturday evening drama,  , which injured 14 another, at the Swan Boat Club in Berlin Township, Fox News reported.
A black SUV was driven by 66-year-old Newport native Marshella Marie Chidester through the parking lot before crashing into the vessel team where the party was taking place, according to harrowing video images from the event.
See: Vehicle slams into Swan Creek Boat Club in Berlin Township, Michigan, injuring several people. photograph. twitter.com/IDKRjpemJc
— AZ Intel ( @AZ_Intel_ ) April 21, 2024
Nine people were reported as suffering” major injuries”, including the Phillips ‘ family and 11- year- older brother, who are both being treated for” important” wounds.
Three teens, two ladies and a child, are all also in” significant” conditions and also undergoing treatment, officials said.
Four older women between the ages of 57 and 70 were taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries, and a second injured woman eventually sought care on his or her own.  ,
The first responders described the scene as being “extremely turbulent with great thoughts of those immediately involved and those who witnessed this horrifying incident,” according to Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough, who spoke at a press conference shortly after the collision and declined to provide the name of the assume, but stated that she had been in jail.
The personality and claims against Chidester were revealed on Tuesday in a media release from Jeffery A. Yorkey, the prosecutor for Monroe County.
The alleged drunk driver was accused of two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of” Operating While Intoxicated Causing Death” and four counts of” Operating While Intoxicated Causing Serious Injury.”
” The Next Degree Death charges carry a maximum of living imprisonment”, Yorkey stated. ” Works 3 and 4 each carry a maximum 15 Years prison and/or$ 2500.00 –$ 10, 000 and the remaining counts carry highest words of up to 5 Times and/or$ 1, 000 –$ 5, 000″.
Childester’s bond was set at$ 1, 500, 000, and she will require GPS tracking and an alcohol monitor if she can post bail.
The court was solemn and filled with tears from the sufferers ‘ relatives during Childester’s Tuesday arraignment.  ,
They entered that holiday celebration and had a good time. They were sitting at that desk, eating, and this girl crashed her car through this tower, destroying all of our life”, the granddaughter of the two younger siblings cried.
She cried and said,” I had to be the one to tell my sister that her children were gone.” ” She said,’ How am I supposed to live without my children?'”
” My brother and my girl are still fighting for their existence”, she added.
The granddaughter of an 8- yr- older girl and 4- year- older boy spoke at the arraignment of a woman, 66, who reportedly drove into a child’s birthday party in Michigan, killing the two siblings and injuring many others on Saturday, officials said. https ://t.co/oJhbzkANPA photograph. twitter.com/ADb6BnYdRO
— ABC News ( @ABC ) April 23, 2024
The family of the sisters, Mariah Dodds, according to the Detroit Free Press, is suing Chidester and the table where she had earlier drank beer, according to the store.
Authorities say that before the fatal accident, the accused drunk driver was a client at , Verna’s Tavern, which Dodds has named as a defendant in the lawsuit she filed while still in the hospital.
” Can you imagine anything worse than that as a human being, as a family”? said Jon Marko, one of the grieving family’s counsel.
The surviving members of this family will have this with them, he added. ” This has torn the entire family apart in the most unimaginable, painful way”.
According to her other lawyer, Michael Jones, Dodds woke up in the hospital with , a broken bone in her proper head, six broken bones, severe pelvic pain, stitched- up lips, and an attention swollen shut.
When she was ready to speak, she first inquired about the state of her children. This is when she found out the tragic news of Zayn and , Alanah’s deaths and that her eldest, J. P., was in the ICU with two broken legs, broken ribs, and a fractured skull.
While Dodd’s lawsuit argues that , Verna’s Tavern over- served a visibly intoxicated woman, both the family who owns the bar and , Chidester’s lawyer, Bill Colovos, said that she only had one glass of wine at the establishment.
Colovos also claimed on Tuesday that his client had legs that were seizures, according to the Free Press.
Chidester is still in the Monroe County Jail and scheduled to appear in court on April 30.
