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Trial Date Set for Mother Charged in Drunk Driving Death of 8-year-old Daughter

November 3, 2008

FLINT, Michigan --  Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said that a trial date has been set in Circuit Court for a Fenton woman who crashed her vehicle while driving impaired with her 8-year-old twin daughters in the vehicle.  One of the twins died from the crash and the other was seriously injured.

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton has charged Arthurs, 41, of Fenton, with second degree murder, which carries a penalty of life or any term of years in prison; operating while intoxicated causing death, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison;  and operating while intoxicated causing serious injury, which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison.

The charges stem from a March 10, 2008 crash in which Arthurs was driving a Jeep Cherokee SUV on Fenton Road near McCall Road in Mundy Township.  Her vehicle went off the road and struck a utility pole.  A witness to the crash called 9-1-1 and police and ambulance personnel arrived on the scene.  The SUV was up against a utility pole and a young female appeared unconscious and trapped in the front passenger side of the vehicle.  A rapid extraction of the girl was peformed and CPR and other medical treatment was given as the girl was taken to Genesys Regional Medical Center where she was pronounced dead after resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.  The girl was later identified as 8-year-old Kelsey Caswell, one of Kelly Arthurs' twin daughters.

Kelsey’s twin sister, Kasey Caswell, was also transported to Genesys where she was diagnosed with a closed head injury and transported to Hurley Medical Center in Flint for further care and treatment.

Testimony at the preliminary examination last month indicated that Arthurs had been drinking and using drugs earlier in the evening and was impaired from both alcohol and drugs at the time of the crash.

A pre-trial date has been set for December 23, 2008 and a jury trial is scheduled to begin January 6, 2009 in the courtroom of Circuit Court Judge Geoffrey Neithercut.

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