A Michigan woman was convicted this week of driving drunk into a birthday party at a Monroe boat club last year, killing two children and injuring a dozen other people.
The jury deliberated less than two hours after a four-day trial before returning guilty verdicts for Marshella Chidester on all counts, including two counts of second degree murder, The Detroit News reported.
Chidester, 67, faces up to life in prison at sentencing, set for May 15.
“I feel like the jury got this one right on all accounts,” said Brian Phillips, the father of the the two children — 4-year-=old Zayn and 8-year-old Alanah — who were killed. “I believe that she deserves to be where she’s at. My babies can finally rest peacefully. This is what we’ve been waiting for this whole time.”
Read CrimeOnline’s previous coverage of the deadly crash.
Chidester’s attorneys claimed that a medical issue caused the crash but presented no testimony at the trial to support that assertion.
Prosecutors showed surveillance footage from Chidester’s home showing her apparently drinking in the hours before the April 20, 2024, crash, and a party store employee testified to selling her the wine she appeared to be drinking in those videos.
Chidester, who lived near the Swan Boat Club where the crash occurred, previously served as the club’s commodore. Her attorneys also questioned the validity of blood alcohol tests, presenting an expert who said that fermentation could cause a higher blood alcohol content in testing.
But the jury didn’t buy those arguments.
Chidester’s attorney said he planned to file an appeal based on rulings on motions he files and his contention that the home surveillance video presented in court had been edited, although the officer who presented the video said flatly that had not occurred.
Witnesses to the crash testified that Chidester was visibly drunk and the smell of alcohol was strong.
The Phillips children’s mother, Mariah Dodds, and their older brother, were critically injured in the crash, which saw Chidester drive through a wall from parking lot and into the room where they party was being held. Dodds said she woke up in the hospital with a punctured lung, broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade, mouth and chin injuries, and a lost tooth.
