Mariah Dobbs, right, and her three children, Jayden, left, Alanah, middle, and Zayn, bottom, were at a birthday party at a boat club in Michigan when Marshella Chidester, in jail jumpsuit, 66-year-old woman crashed through the building. Alanah and Zayn died while Dobbs and Jayden suffered serious injuries. (Dobbs: GoFundMe; Chidester: WXYZ/YouTube)
Two days after an allegedly drunk 66-year-old woman went barreling through a boat club in Michigan killing two kids at a birthday party, the mother of the victims filed a lawsuit against a bar claiming it was negligent when it served the suspect while she was “visibly intoxicated.”
According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Marshella Chidester crashed her car through the Swan Boat Club around 3 p.m. Saturday in in Berlin Charter Township, about 30 miles south of Detroit. She ended up about 25 feet inside the building, killing 8-year-old Alanah Phillips and her 4-year-old brother, Zayn Phillips, cops said. The crash also seriously injured their mother, Mariah Dodds, and 11-year-old brother.
On Tuesday, Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney Jeffery A. Yorkey charged Chidester with two counts each of second-degree murder and operating while intoxicated causing death and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury.
Deputies allege Chidester got into her car after drinking at Verna’s Tavern and drove into the boat club. Attorney Jon R. Marko of the Marko Law Firm filed the lawsuit against Chidester and the tavern under the Dram Shop law which allows an impacted person to hold a business liable for selling booze to a visibly drunk customer.
“As a result of the acts and/or omissions of the employees and/or agents of Defendant Verna’s Tavern, Defendant Chidester was able to continue drinking in the public establishment until the time she left and ultimately crashed her car into the Swan Boat Club,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit argues the bar should have stopped serving Chidester, kick her out of the bar and provide her an alternate means of transportation.
An attorney for the bar released a statement to Toledo, Ohio, ABC affiliate WTVG saying facts are still being gathered.
“We are saddened beyond words by the news of this horrible tragedy,” attorney John McManus of McManus Law said in a statement. “Our most sincere thoughts and prayers go out to all those that lost their lives, their family members, witnesses and all of our Community that is in pain due to this incident. We ask for patience during the investigation and that the Justice system be allowed to work to uncover the actual facts surrounding the accident.”
Chidester’s arraignment was emotional, with family of the victims expressing sorrow and anger.
“She took my grandbabies from us,” Alanah and Zayn’s grandmother Kathy Phillips said during the hearing. “She made that choice to go in that car, and she chose to drink and drive.”
Dodds’ sister Raquel Smouthers told the judge that the incident has destroyed her family’s life.
“Nobody should ever have to go to a birthday party thinking that they’re gonna die,” Smouthers said.
Chidester’s attorney said his client had one glass of wine at the bar and a bowl of chili four hours prior to the accident. He said Chidester is “not a monster,” rather she suffered seizure that caused paralysis in her legs while she was driving, causing her to lose control of her car. But Yorkey said her blood alcohol level was “significantly higher” than the legal limit of .08, though he did not give the figure.
“She is a danger to this community,” Yorkey said. “And that is illustrated no clearer than the two dead children she is directly responsible for.”
The judge set Chidester’s bond at $1.5 million. Her next court date is scheduled for April 30.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
