A 66-year-old woman, Marshella Chidester, is in a world of trouble after she was charged with 2nd-degree murder among other slew of serious charges for her culpability in the April crash at the Swan Boat club in Berlin Township.
Chidester was the architect of one of the most bizarre crashes we’ve seen in some time when she drove her car into a building, the Berlin Township boat club, while a very festive birthday party for a child was ongoing.
Her actions led to the death of two children, 8-year-old Alanah Phillips and 5-year-old Zayn Phillips.
She also injured more than a dozen other people and it was via sheer luck that the death toll was not much higher.
At her arraignment, Chidester was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death, and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury.
She was released on a $1.5m bond.
While law enforcement authorities, families of the victims, and some witnesses insist that Marshella was drunk at the time of the crash, her lawyer insists there has been a misunderstanding and that she suffered a medical episode.
Marshella Chidestar – Unlucky old lady or belligerent drunk?
Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough revealed that Chidestar was drunk at the time of the accident and multiple initial reports said she was at a bar and had gotten totally wasted before getting behind the wheel of her vehicle.
The Sheriff said her vehicle plowed through the boat club’s north wall and managed to penetrate it till about 25 feet before the car came to a rest!
Goodnough added: “The scene was described by first responders as extremely chaotic with a high level of emotion of those directly involved and those who witnessed the incident,”
Based on that testimony and those of witnesses, the prosecution is building a case accusing Chidester of being a severe drunk who abuses substances as well.
She was even accused of causing an earlier accident on that fateful day before driving her car into the Berlin Township boat club.
A witness, Joshua Stith, speaking at her arraignment, said he had seen Chidester intoxicated on so many occasions it could not bear counting.
Stith said her drunkenness was an open secret at the club as she had been escorted out of the club drunk on dozens of occasions.
He said he believed the crash was just decades of her drinking and driving finally catching up with her.
Stith also made the allegation that Chidester had been involved in an earlier accident that precipitated her speeding towards the boat club.
He claimed he believes that she had hit a truck and was speeding away when she hit a speed bump at the entrance of the club’s parking lot and lost control.
Attorney Bill Clovis, representing the defense, painted an entirely different picture.
He said Chidester was a typical old lady driver who never sped.
“She drives like a little old lady when she drives. You’ve gotta drive around her,” he said.
His argument was she’d suffered a medical episode and that wasn’t her fault.
He denied she was completely wasted on the day, insisting she had just a glass of wine with lunch, four hours prior to the crash.
“Some things we don’t have control over,” Colovos said. “This is not a monster,”
The trial continues.
Irrespective of which side of the spectrum you fall on regarding Chidester’s guilt, it remains irrelevant to the fact that two children are dead.
Are their families supposed to be comforted by the fact that Chidester supposedly had a medical episode? That changes nothing for them regarding losing their babies.
Hopefully, the trial determines the truth of that day and justice can be served.