Trial of woman charged in fatal Swan Boat Club crash starts Monday. Here's what to know.
The trial of Marshella Chidester, accused of drinking and driving before a crash that killed two young siblings and injured several others at a birthday party in Monroe County, starts on Monday.
Here's what to know.
Case details
On April 20, 2024, Chidester allegedly crashed 25 feet into a building at the Swan Boat Club in Berlin Township, about 30 miles south of Detroit, according to Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough.
Alanah Phillips, 8, and her 4-year-old brother, Zayn Phillips, were celebrating a birthday party inside the building when the crash happened. Both died at the scene, according to authorities.
Nine people — six adults and three children — were allegedly taken to the hospital with serious or life-threatening injuries. The sheriff's office says there were a total of 15 victims in the crash.
Chidester was taken into custody at the scene.
The charges
Chidester, 67, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death and five counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury, according to online court records.
She posted a court-ordered $1.5 million surety bond on April 25, 2024.
Trial details
Chidester's trial is set to begin Monday at 8 a.m. at the 38th Circuit Court in Monroe, with Judge Daniel White presiding. He has already ruled on several pretrial motions made by Chidester's defense attorney.
White denied a motion on Feb. 21 to exclude the results of her blood alcohol test taken after the crash.
Early in the investigation, the sheriff's office said Chidester may have left a bar before the crash happened. At a court hearing, a sheriff's deputy testified that her blood alcohol content that day was 0.18. The legal limit in Michigan is 0.08.
Bill Colovos, Chidester's attorney, claimed that the evidence was handled improperly, which might have changed the results from the sample. White agreed with the prosecution that the question should be a matter to decide during trial.
During the Feb. 21 hearing, White also heard arguments as to how state law should apply since the crash happened on private property rather than a site that's normally open to the public. He ruled that the boat club would be considered generally accessible to the public, and it was open by invitation.
At a Walker Hearing on Feb. 10, White denied motions to dismiss three interviews Chidester did with law enforcement at the crash scene. Colovos said statements she gave at the crash scene were involuntarily made.
The second-degree murder charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Note: The above video first aired on Feb. 21, 2025.
