A Michigan woman will spend 25 to 50 years behind bars after drunkenly driving into a boat club where a birthday party was being held, killing two young siblings and injuring over a dozen other people.
Marshella Chidester, 67, was found guilty in March of all charges, including second-degree murder, in connection with the deaths of 8-year-old Alanah Phillips and 4-year-old Zayn Phillips at the Swan Boat Club on April 20, 2024.
Before she was sentenced Thursday, Chidester asked for forgiveness and told Alanah and Zayn’s family: “I can’t help but say I am so very, very sorry for the loss of your children,” The Detroit News reported.
“I pray for them every day,” Chidester said. “I never meant to harm those children. I’m so very sorry and I never ever meant to come across as not being sorrowful.”
Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Daniel White noted the case “might be the most tragic, most heartbreaking case this courtroom has ever seen” before delivering the sentencing.
“This crime destroyed lives, it destroyed families and it changed so many people in a negative way,” White said. “I believe the jury got it right. The evidence of this defendant’s guilt was overwhelming.”
Chidester received 25 to 50 years for the murder charges. She will also serve 84 to 180 months for two counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, causing death, and 20 to 24 months for five counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, causing injury.
The sentences will be served concurrently, the judge said.
The parents of Alanah and Zayn gave emotional victim impact statements Thursday, with their father, Brian Phillips, wearing a shirt that said “those we love don’t go away, they walk beside us everyday” with photos of his kids on it.”
“What you took from me, I will never, ever get back,” he said through tears. “I don’t wish nothing but the worst for you and I hope you feel what we feel every day.”
Their mother, Mariah Dodds, said her heart was “shattered beyond words” and that she would hope for the death penalty if it were legal in Michigan.
“The loss of my children has created a void in my life I will never be able to fill,” Dodds said. “My children were my everything. … They were my joy, my hope and my reason to live. They brought so much love, laughter and light into my life.”
Dodds also said her oldest son, Jayden, who was injured in the crash, was robbed of his childhood because of the traumatic event.
The grieving mother also told the court he continues to suffer because of the accident, saying it took him over 10 months to be able to walk again and even now he still cannot attend school and sit for the entire day. It took him. Since the crash, Dodds said he has suffered survivor’s guilt.
Dodds said her son told her: “She ruined my life. I want her to pay and spend the rest of her life in prison.”
Chidester cried during both victim impact statements.
The horrific April 2024 crash not only killed the two young children but injured 15 others, including some of their relatives.
During Chidester’s trial, prosecutors used testimony from witnesses, police body camera footage and toxicology results to paint the 67-year-old as someone with a drinking problem who had been consuming alcohol well before the crash.
A party store employee testified that he sold four small bottles of white wine and a standard bottle of red wine to Chidester the morning of the crash. Court testimony later revealed her blood alcohol content level 0.18 — more than twice the legal limit for driving.
This is a developing story…
