Pretrial for Royal Oak Woman Charged in Fatal Drunk Driving Crash Postponed

MOUNT CLEMENS – The pretrial for a Royal Oak woman charged in the death of was postponed Thursday and rescheduled for next month in Macomb County Circuit Court.

About seven friends and family members of Annette Eileen Evans, 53, sat waiting in Circuit Judge Matthew S. Switalski’s courtroom Thursday morning hoping to see 20-year-old Kelley Marie Nagle, who is charged with operating under the influence or while impaired by a controlled substance causing death and operating while intoxicated or impaired second offense. The first count is a 15-year felony, and the second is a one-year misdemeanor. Instead, attorney Mary Jo Diegel from the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office came out and told them the pretrial would not take place and was rescheduled for June 2.

“We’re not going to go on the record today as we’re putting it off to another date,” Diegel said.

Those in the courtroom in support of Evans appeared upset over the delay.

In the meantime, information will be reviewed as Nagle and her attorney contemplate her plea. If Nagle enters a not guilty plea, there could ultimately be a jury trial.

Nagle was driving a Chevrolet Trailblazer southbound on Dequindre Road, south of 19 Mile Road, in Sterling Heights shortly after midnight Jan. 16 when she attempted to pass a red Mazda sedan in front of her and ended up driving head-on into oncoming traffic, said Sterling Heights Police Lt. Dale Dwojakowski. Her vehicle struck a Ford Ranger driven by Evans, police said.

Dwojakowski said the incident was a “severe, severe collision,” leaving the victim pinned in her vehicle. Evans was transported to Beaumont Hospital, Troy, where she was pronounced dead. No one else involved in the accident was injured.

Nagle’s blood-alcohol level at the time of the accident was 0.23, nearly three times the Michigan legal limit of 0.08, said William Cataldo, chief of homicide for the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office.

Nagle in Macomb County District Court in Sterling Heights and was released on a $100,000 bond and ordered to wear an alcohol and GPS monitoring device. The case was then bound over to Macomb County Circuit Court. Her .