WAYNE COUNTY (WWJ) - A 25-year-old woman from Grosse Pointe was slapped with three charges on Tuesday morning for allegedly driving drunk and fatally striking a teacher who was changing a flat tire on I-94 last week.
Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced her office has charged Brooke Lynn-Denise Charles, 25, of Grosse Pointe Woods, with one count of Operating While Intoxicated Causing Death, one count of Leaving a Scene of an Accident – Causing Death, and one count of Resisting and Obstructing a Police Officer in the incident that killed Fraser High School teacher Connor McMahon, 23, of Roseville on June 13.
Michigan State Police allege Charles was drunk when she struck McMahon while driving her vehicle on the I-94 freeway near 8 Mile/Vernier in Harper Woods just before 10:30 p.m. last Tuesday.
Troopers said McMahon’s car had gotten a flat tire while on the freeway and he has pulled over on the right shoulder and partially on the embankment of the highway -- he was changing his tire when the crash occurred.
Charles did not stop, police claim, and she took off.
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McMahon was found lying on the ground, unresponsive, next to his vehicle by troopers. Medics pronounced him dead when they arrived a the scene.
Harper Woods police tracked down Charles and arrested her a short while later after a brief foot chase.
She was then turned over to state troopers.
Troopers said last week that they were seeking a warrant for a blood draw on the suspect and that they would pursue additional charges after she allegedly hurt a Harper Woods police officer and bit a state trooper.
“A series of horrible – and allegedly criminal decisions by now Defendant Charles – led her to being charged with numerous offenses," Worthy said in a prepared statement. "The evidence will show that she caused the death of Connor McMahon, a much beloved teacher. The [message] about drinking and driving has been around for decades. It cannot be repeated enough.”
One day after the crash, administers for Fraser Public Schools identified McMahon as a staff member at their high school, where he had also graduated from in 2017.
“Connor’s passing is a heartbreaking tragedy," principal Ryan Sines said. "He just finished his first year as a social studies teacher at Fraser High School and was so excited to be teaching at his alma mater."
Sines went on to say McMahon "was always willing to go above and beyond for his colleagues and students, and will truly be missed by all who knew him."
Charles was arraigned on June 17 in 36th District Court. She was given a $50,000 cash bond.
She is due back in court for a Probable Cause Conference on June 28 at 1:30 p.m.