Driver, restaurant sued by mother of birthday party victims killed in boat club crash
The mother who lost two children Saturday when a car plowed into a private Monroe County boat club has sued the accused driver and a local tavern she allegedly visited the day of the crash.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in 38th Circuit Court in Monroe County, alleges the woman, now identified by authorities as 66-year-old Marshella Chidester, acted with gross negligence when she crashed into the Swan Boat Club on Saturday afternoon during a children's birthday party.
The crash killed two of Mariah Dodds' children and injured her third, identified as J.P. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office identified the two children killed as siblings Alanah Phillips, 8, and Zayn Phillips, 4. The crash injured more than a dozen other people.
Chidester was arraigned Tuesday on two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of operating under the influence of alcohol causing death and four counts of operating under the influence of alcohol causing serious injury. She has been held at Monroe County's jail.
"Defendants destroyed plaintiffs' family relationship. Mariah Dodd(s) lost her two children," according to the lawsuit.
Dodds' lawsuit also alleges Verna's Tavern is responsible for Chidester's actions because they continued serving her alcohol even after she was visibly drunk.
The lawsuit seeks to hold the restaurant accountable for allegedly violating Michigan's "dram shop" law, a type of statute that allows an injured person to bring a claim against a business for serving alcohol to an underage person or someone who is visibly intoxicated.
"Generations of experience of sales of alcohol have told us that irresponsible sale and use causes people to get hurt," said Jon Marko, an attorney for Dodds.
He added someone who has been harmed can also bring a claim against the individual person who served the alcohol, but that approach is rare.
"The business is responsible for its employees," Marko said.
Authorities closed the bar, which was less than 5 miles from the boat club, after Saturday's crash and executed a search warrant to learn more about the day’s business, Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough said Saturday night.
Bill Colovos, Chidester's attorney, said Tuesday that the search warrant of Verna's found that Chidester only had one glass of wine and a bowl of chili for lunch from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday. The crash occurred at three hours later at the boat club, which is 3.4 miles from the bar.
Colovos said at her arraignment that she has no criminal record and is retired. He said she received treatment the day of the crash for a recent history of seizures in her legs. He called the crash "absolutely horrible."
An employee who answered the phone at Verna's on Tuesday morning referred The Detroit News to an attorney for the restaurant who could not immediately be reached.
jcardi@detroitnews.com