Michael Hatfield has nothing to say to the Newport woman charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of her niece and nephew.
“Honestly, we’re not even going to give her that glory,” Hatfield, 37, said Friday at a vigil for 8-year-old Alanah Phillips and 4-year-old Zayn Phillips.
“We’re not even going to address her. As much as we want to… I don’t even feel like she deserves it.”
The injustice his family feels could be seen at the vigil, from the redness of their eyes to the way they hugged each other as a crowd of more than 100 participants prayed for them, with candles in their hands. Nicholas Phillips, another uncle of the two children, couldn’t talk about Alanah and Zayn without breaking down.
The vigil was held at Newport’s Swan Boat Club, where authorities allege Marshella Chidester, 66, was intoxicated when she crashed an SUV at a birthday party on April 20, killing the two children and injuring more than a dozen others. . Her lawyer says a medical problem, not alcohol, caused the accident.
More: Woman accused in Monroe County boat club accident released on $1.5 million bail
Among those injured were the children’s mother, Mariah Dodds, and their 11-year-old brother, Jayden Phillips. Both suffered serious injuries and remain hospitalized.
The place where the tragedy occurred became a makeshift memorial, the hole in the building was boarded up and prayers and songs filled the air. Twisted metal and debris left over from the crash were replaced by stuffed animals, candles, crosses and a note from Alanah’s friend Piper, who wrote, “I miss you so much. I wish you were here with me.”
Just down the gravel road from the boat club lives Chidester, who has been charged with eight total felonies related to the crash, including two counts of second-degree murder and two other counts of drunken driving causing death.
Chidester’s attorney, Bill Colovos, said his client suffers from neuropathy and has “epileptic seizures” in her legs. He said she only had one glass of wine that day. He said Chidester “passed out” from a seizure when she crashed the boat club and is “very remorseful”.
More: Woman accused in Monroe County boat club accident released on $1.5 million bond
Monroe County Prosecutor Jeffery Yorkey argued in court earlier this week that a preliminary breath alcohol test for Chidester was “significantly above the legal limit,” but he was not specific. He alleged that Chidester admitted to authorities that she had been drinking that day and pointed to a history of “severe substance abuse” allegedly corroborated by Chidester’s friends and family.
On Thursday, Chidester was released from the Monroe County Jail after posting $1.5 million bail through a bail bond company.
Both Hatfield and Phillips said at the vigil that the family views their release as a failure of the justice system.
Most of his family members can’t sleep or eat, Phillips, 33, said. And Hatfield’s children, who arrived at the birthday party less than five minutes after the tragedy, wake up in the middle of the night screaming, “Why is there so much blood?” Hatfield said.
“And she’s sitting there, four houses down,” Phillips said. “How is that fair?”
Zayn, Phillips said, was “still a baby” who loved playing games and watching CoComelon on his dad’s phone. Alanah, he said, was their “little princess” who loved her father so much.
“They were life,” Hatfield said. “They were little balls of joy. They were babies.”
The vigil ended with the soft singing of “Amazing Grace” from the crowd, as community members began to reach out and embrace the family of the dead children.
And it ended with a message from Hatfield:
“I hope this is a message to drunk drivers,” he said.
“And I hope my family finally gets the justice we deserve.”
Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. She can be reached at 313-264-0442 or asahouri@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: Family of children killed in boating club accident demands justice at vigil
