MI - Two children killed when drunk driver crashes into birthday party - April 21, 2024

[acutename]

Using an online calculator, for a person weighing 140 pounds, 4 glasses of wine in two hours' time (each glass 6 ounces) would result in .13% blood alcohol.

does the calculator account for age? at 67, she may have less alcohol tolerance or she might have
had something else in her system....does not make her any less accountable- she needed to be more careful...

Alcohol and age: A risky combination​

Harvard Health
https://www.health.harvard.edu › diseases-and-conditions

drug interactions:

Harmful Interactions | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

You’ve probably seen this warning on medicines you’ve taken. The danger is real. Mixing alcohol with certain medications can cause nausea and vomiting, headaches, drowsiness, fainting, or loss of coordination. It also can put you at risk for internal bleeding, heart problems, and difficulties in...

www.niaaa.nih.gov

Jan 27, 2018 — Your ability to metabolize alcohol declines. After drinking the same amount of alcohol, older people have higher blood alcohol concentrations ...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Jury reaches verdict in Monroe Co. boat club crash that killed 2 kids

A party store employee testified Thursday that he sold Marshella Chidester four small bottles of wine and a large bottle the morning of the crash.

www.detroitnews.com

 

[Leilei]

Wow, the video from her at home that morning with the wine are the final nail here.
She had so many chances to stop, get out of the car, and just not get back in, but nope, off she went at 40+ mph.
Prosecution has done a great job of giving the jurors (and us) the entire timeline through video.
She's done.
IMO.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Jury reaches verdict in Monroe Co. boat club crash that killed 2 kids

A party store employee testified Thursday that he sold Marshella Chidester four small bottles of wine and a large bottle the morning of the crash.

www.detroitnews.com

Monroe — In the hours before she crashed her car into a Monroe County boat club, killing two children, Marshella Chidester allegedly bought several mini wine bottles at a local party store and also appeared to be drinking wine in her home, according to witnesses and surveillance video presented Thursday.

The videos, shown during Chidester's trial on second-degree murder charges, contradict defense attorney Bill Colovos' claim that his client only had one glass of wine with lunch at Verna's Tavern the day of the crash on April 20, 2024. He's also suggested that her 0.18 blood alcohol content — twice the legal limit — was due to the blood sample fermenting and inflating the amount of ethanol in her blood...

Lock her up!

 

[Leilei]

Verdict already!
Guilty on all nine counts!!
Thank you, jurors.

 

[ilovewings]

Jury reaches verdict in Monroe Co. boat club crash that killed 2 kids

A party store employee testified Thursday that he sold Marshella Chidester four small bottles of wine and a large bottle the morning of the crash.

www.detroitnews.com

Monroe — In the hours before she crashed her car into a Monroe County boat club, killing two children, Marshella Chidester allegedly bought several mini wine bottles at a local party store and also appeared to be drinking wine in her home, according to witnesses and surveillance video presented Thursday.

The videos, shown during Chidester's trial on second-degree murder charges, contradict defense attorney Bill Colovos' claim that his client only had one glass of wine with lunch at Verna's Tavern the day of the crash on April 20, 2024. He's also suggested that her 0.18 blood alcohol content — twice the legal limit — was due to the blood sample fermenting and inflating the amount of ethanol in her blood...

Lock her up!

For some reason it didn't occur to me that she had been drinking at home
and they have it on video-- just perfect!!!!

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Former Monroe Co. boat club commodore found guilty in crash that killed 2 kids

Marshella Chidester was tried on two counts of second degree murder for the deaths of Zayn Phillips, 4, and his sister, Alanah Phillips, 8.

www.detroitnews.com

Monroe — A jury has found a woman guilty of driving drunk through the wall of a Monroe County boat club in April 2024 during a 3-year-old's birthday party, killing two kids and injuring a dozen others.

Deliberations were short; jurors took just under two hours to come back with their verdict against Marshella Chidester after a four-day trial. They found her guilty of all charges...

 

[ilovewings]

Verdict already!
Guilty on all nine counts!!
Thank you, jurors.

Wow- that was quick
Yep- Lock her up!!!!!!

 

[ilovewings]

Former Monroe Co. boat club commodore found guilty in crash that killed 2 kids

Marshella Chidester was tried on two counts of second degree murder for the deaths of Zayn Phillips, 4, and his sister, Alanah Phillips, 8.

www.detroitnews.com

Monroe — A jury has found a woman guilty of driving drunk through the wall of a Monroe County boat club in April 2024 during a 3-year-old's birthday party, killing two kids and injuring a dozen others.

Deliberations were short; jurors took just under two hours to come back with their verdict against Marshella Chidester after a four-day trial. They found her guilty of all charges...

She'll have lots of time to think about what she did and the lives she took and the families that will never be the same. I believe she will get life in prison--for a person at age 67 that is a death sentence

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

For some reason it didn't occur to me that she had been drinking at home
and they have it on video-- just perfect!!!!

I've been saying for a long time that MC's BAC wasn't as high as it was from a single glass of wine at the local tavern. I thought that she might have consumed more wine (or other alcohol) in the hours after leaving the tavern and driving to the boat club. She had actually been drinking in the morning prior to her lunch at Verna's! Glad MC was found guilty and that will be locked up and unable to drive drunk any longer.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Monroe woman found guilty in birthday party crash that killed 2 children

The jury has reached a verdict in the trial of Marshella Chidester, the woman accused of drunk driving and crashing her car through a birthday party, killing two children, in Monroe County.

www.clickondetroit.com

 

[Vaderman]

I can't believe she decided to take it all the way to trial. How one doesn't finally reach their bottom after killing people and accept that they have a problem is difficult to fathom.

 

[ilovewings]

I can't believe she decided to take it all the way to trial. How one doesn't finally reach their bottom after killing people and accept that they have a problem is difficult to fathom.

Probably because her attorney painted false hopes to her- there he was after the verdict with "poor me'-- he stated all of his motions were denied: that's because they had no merit: duh!!!!! he kept telling the jury she had only one glass of wine at the bar and then came the home video--- unbelievable - there was the smoking gun-- he should have known about the video and had her plead to avoid the whole world seeing her drunk on video in her own kitchen-- there she was holding a small bottle of wine walking around the kitchen. If only she would have stayed home instead of getting in her car, which she used as a weapon! - she wouldn't be facing a life sentence.

 

[Leilei]

I can't believe she decided to take it all the way to trial. How one doesn't finally reach their bottom after killing people and accept that they have a problem is difficult to fathom.

I'm so angry that she decided to go to trial. The family and surviving victims, as well as the first responders, did not need to relive this.
And the defense attorney's crying... just terrible and inappropriate, and I'm hoping she doesn't get out on appeal due his antics.
IMO.

 

[sunspun]

Probably because her attorney painted false hopes to her- there he was after the verdict with "poor me'-- he stated all of his motions were denied: that's because they had no merit: duh!!!!! he kept telling the jury she had only one glass of wine at the bar and then came the home video--- unbelievable - there was the smoking gun-- he should have known about the video and had her plead to avoid the whole world seeing her drunk on video in her own kitchen-- there she was holding a small bottle of wine walking around the kitchen. If only she would have stayed home instead of getting in her car, which she used as a weapon! - she wouldn't be facing a life sentence.

So I don't understand why her attorney stuck with the story that he knew was a lie and that he also knew would be disproven by the prosecution during the trial! According to the rules, defense definitely would have to have seen the home video, right?? But I thought attorneys were not allowed to lie to the court. Didn't he though?

 

[ilovewings]

So I don't understand why her attorney stuck with the story that he knew was a lie and that he also knew would be disproven by the prosecution during the trial! According to the rules, defense definitely would have to have seen the home video, right?? But I thought attorneys were not allowed to lie to the court. Didn't he though?

So I don't understand why her attorney stuck with the story that he knew was a lie and that he also knew would be disproven by the prosecution during the trial! According to the rules, defense definitely would have to have seen the home video, right?? But I thought attorneys were not allowed to lie to the court. Didn't he though?

Experienced Attorney | Southgate, MI | Colovos Law Firm

For experienced legal representation in Southgate, MI, call Colovos Law Firm today!

www.colovoslawfirm.com

Interesting to read some of the reviews: It seems to me there were not a lot of good attorneys who would take her case so this guy, Colovos comes along and offers to represent her. I think he was arrogant enough to think he could pull a fast one on the jury. Obviously he has no ethics because clearly he lied to the court.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Video showed Monroe woman walking around home with wine in hours before crash that killed 2 kids

Video from the courtroom showed the woman who killed two children at a Monroe County birthday party walking around her home with wine in the hours before the crash.

www.clickondetroit.com

MONROE COUNTY, Mich. – Video from the courtroom showed the woman who killed two children at a Monroe County birthday party walking around her home with wine in the hours before the crash.

Marshella Chidester was found guilty on all nine counts in the crash on April 20, 2024. During the fourth day of the trial on Thursday, prosecutors recalled Deputy Hooper from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office to testify during rebuttals...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

From Monroe County Jail inmate roster. I didn't find a mugshot.

CHIDESTER, MARSHELLA MARIE	White	Female	67	03/06/2025	Monroe County Sheriff's Office
Charge: 750.317 - HOMICIDE-MURDER-2ND DEGREE (Original Charge); Arrest Date 03/06/2025; Bond - No Bond, $0.00; Set By Judge White;

 

[Emi]

Michigan Grandmother Found Guilty of Murder After Crashing Car into Birthday Party, Killing 2 Children

67-year-old grandmother Marshella Chidester crashed her car into a club where a birthday party was being held, killing two children. She was found guilty on all nine counts, including two counts of second-degree murder, in the 2024 deaths of Zayn Phillips, 4, and Alanah Phillips, 8.

people.com

 

[Emi]

From Monroe County Jail inmate roster. I didn't find a mugshot.

CHIDESTER, MARSHELLA MARIE	White	Female	67	03/06/2025	Monroe County Sheriff's Office
Charge: 750.317 - HOMICIDE-MURDER-2ND DEGREE (Original Charge); Arrest Date 03/06/2025; Bond - No Bond, $0.00; Set By Judge White;

I found it and will attach it here