Woman to Stand Trial in Deaths of 2 Michigan Bicyclists
IONIA, Mich.—A woman has been ordered to stand trial on second-degree murder and other charges after five bicyclists were struck by her vehicle as they rode in a summer charity event in western Michigan.
Ionia County District Judge Raymond Voet said during a preliminary hearing Thursday that Mandy Benn was intoxicated by a “cocktail of drugs,” despite testimony that she had only therapeutic levels of medication in her system, MLive.com reported.
Voet also said Benn, 42, acted with a “wanton and willful … disregard of life.”
Ionia County Prosecutor Kyle Butler has said Benn was trying to pass a UPS truck on July 30 on a rural road in Ronald Township when she crossed the center line and hit the bicyclists who were participating in a three-day endurance ride for the Make-A-Wish Foundation….