Detroit Mom ‘Super Drunk’ In Crash That Killed Infant: Prosecutor

DETROIT, MI — A Detroit mom prosecutors said was intoxicated when she was involved in a two-vehicle May 18 car accident that killed her infant son and injured three others was arraigned Tuesday on multiple felony counts, including manslaughter and charges filed under Michigan's “super drunk”. The driver of the other vehicle also faces multiple charges.

Authorities said Deandre L. Cody, 31, of Detroit, was southbound on Archdale Street about 8:20 p.m. on May 18, failed to stop at a stop sign at Puritan Street and T-boned a vehicle driven by Latoya Sharese Powels, 40, of Detroit, who was westbound on Puritan. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Powels’ three children — a 6-month-old boy who died and two girls, 2 and 4 — were in the rear passenger seat of the car, but were not properly strapped in their car seats and all three were ejected from the vehicle, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a news release.

Cody allegedly fled the scene of the accident in his vehicle, and Powels and her children were taken privately to a local hospital for treatment of their injuries. The boy was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Charges against Cody include:

• One count of failure to stop at an accident when at fault, resulting in death;
• Two counts of failure to stop at an accident resulting in serious injury, resulting in death or serious impairment;
• One count of driving with a suspended license, resulting in death;
• Two counts of driving with a suspended license, causing serious injury.

His probable cause hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on May 30, and his preliminary examination is set for 1:30 p.m.. on June 6, both before Judge Deborah Lewis Langston in 36th District Court. His bond was set at $500,000 cash/surety.

Charges against Powels include:

• One count of involuntary manslaughter;
• Three counts of second-degree child abuse;
• One count of operating while intoxicated with an occupant under the age of 16;
• One count of operating while intoxicated, high blood alcohol content.

Powels, who remains hospitalized, was arraigned by video from her hospital bed. Bond was set at $2 million cash/surety.

Photo by James Palinsad via Flickr Commons