A woman was charged with second-degree murder and other offenses after her vehicle struck five bicyclists as she rode in a summer charity ride in western Michigan.
Raymond Voet, a judge in Ionia County District, stated that Mandy Benn was under the influence of a “cocktail” of drugs during Thursday’s preliminary hearing. MLive.com reports that Benn had only therapeutic amounts of medication in her system.
Voet also said Benn, 42, acted with a “wanton and willful … disregard of life.”
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Kyle Butler, Ionia County Prosecutor has stated that Benn was trying pass a UPS truck in Ronald Township on July 30th when she crossed the middle line and hit bicyclists who were taking part in a three-day endurance bike ride for Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Ronald Township is located northeast of Grand Rapids.
Benn had no alcohol in her system but had slurred speech and couldn’t follow instructions, said Butler, who added that there was evidence she Prescription drugs.
Mandy Benn appeared for her preliminary examination in Michigan’s Ionia County Courthouse on November 10, 2022. She is facing charges of second-degree killing. Benn will be tried for the deaths of two bicyclists and five others she struck with her vehicle. Â Â
(Joel Bissell/MLive.com/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
Edward Erickson, 48 of Ann Arbor, was killed, as well as Michael Salhaney 57 of Bloomfield Hills. Three other men were also hurt.
WZZM-TV reported the accident to WZZM-TV. The woman lives on the same road as the bicyclists.
Shoni Mayle stated that she saw a body flying through air from her window, which faces the road.
Benn seemed confused and disoriented when the bicyclists got hit, Ionia County sheriff’s detective Sgt. Phillip Hesche testified.
“She looked right at me, and she says, ‘Wow, officer that almost looks real,'” Hesche said. “I was truly taken aback.” It was as if she was from another planet.
Geoffrey French, a State police toxicology unit supervisor, testified that three prescription drugs were found in Benn’s system. Prosecutors claimed she didn’t have a prescription for any of the drugs.
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French agreed to Walter Downes’ defense that she had therapeutic levels medication in her system. French stated that none of the results were “super, super large.”
He said that the medication can cause adverse effects while being interrogated by the prosecution.
