A 47-year-old Mt. Clemens woman has been charged with four counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of four teens killed in a crash in Roseville on Monday.



Frances Patricia Dingle was arraigned this afternoon in her hospital bed, said Roseville Deputy Chief James Berlin.

Dingle also faces four charges of operating while intoxicated, causing death, though a jury would have to decide between the two charges, not convict for both.


Her alcohol content was more than double the legal limit," Prosecutor Eric Smith said. The limit is .08%.

District Court Judge Joseph Boedeker handled the bedside arraignment at St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital, where Dingle is being held another day for observation after sustaining non-life-threatening injuries.

"We have been successful in charging drunken drivings as murders, but in this case, there are some aggravating circumstances that elevate it beyond operating while intoxicated, causing death," Smith added.

The driver of the teens' car, Devon Spurlock, 19, died at 5 a.m. today, said Roseville Deputy Police Chief James Berlin.

The other teens who died when the full-sized Ford van ran into their car as they waited for a red light to change on Gratiot Avenue were Jordan Michalak, 16, Erica Haudek, 15, and Stephanie Currie, 16, according to police.

Smith said details about where the woman was Monday night are still coming, but officials said that she had been drinking at someone's house and was asked not to drive home.

She ignored that request, officials said.

"This phone call in the middle of the night is a parent's worst nightmare," Smith said. "Here these kids were, causing no trouble, completely law abiding, sitting at a light waiting to get a pizza. It's heartbreaking to say the least."

Stephanie's grandfather, Manuel Noriega, 79, of Mt. Clemens, stood watching at the accident scene today along Gratiot as more than 200 students waved posters at a rally hastily organized by the teens' friends. Waving posters that read "Teens Against Drinking & Driving" and red stop signs that said "Stop Drunk Driving."

"Beautiful," he said with tears in his eyes. "They're sticking together like glue."


As drivers beeped their horns in support, Victoria Noriega of Chesterfield Township, broke down in sobs when she talked about her niece, Stephanie.


"We're going to miss her so much," she said between tears and anger at the woman driving. "I just want to wake up! What are you thinking -- four innocent lives? I hope you rot in jail."


The families of the victims also plan to meet at the accident scene for a candlelight vigil in the Macomb Mall parking lot at 8 p.m. Tuesday.


Ashly Lowry, 18, a Roseville High grad who went to school with Devon at Lake Shore for two years, created the posters at home this morning, then asked Kinko's on Gratiot to print hundreds of copies for free.


"We just wanted to take a stand," she said. "These kids weren't even drunk. This lady decides to drink and she kills four kids? They didn't get to get married, they didn't get to have kids, and all because one lady decided to drink."


Richard Rondeau, director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving's Southeast Michigan division said he received at least a half-dozen calls from teens this morning requesting support for the rally.


"It shows that these young people got the message," he said. "And they're tired of adults over 21 going out and drinking and driving. You know someone else is going to be killed tonight because they don't have a way home. It's so senseless."


According to the latest statistics broken down for Southeast Michigan, he said there were 97 alcohol-related deaths in the area in 2007, down from 112 in 2006.


For the families, one is too many, he said.


"They'll never be the same," Rondeau said. "There will always be that empty chair at the table."


James Simasko, Dingle's longtime lawyer, said she has had a "long and troubled past with substance abuse."


"She was making great strides, but had recently relapsed," said Simasko, who said he talked with one of Dingle's two daughters today.

Simasko represented Dingle in a 2005 divorce case.

The family is devastated, he said, and is praying for the teens' families.

Three of the victims were students at Lake Shore High School in St. Clair Shores and one attended the district's alternative-education program, Lake Shore High School Principal Rich Bowers said late Monday.


Friends of the students said Devon befriended many, and enjoyed UFC fighting - Ultimate Fighting Championship-type battles - in friends' basements. Erica always walked with her preschool-age sister.


Lake Shore sophomore Kevin Malone, 16, who shared classes with Erica, said their friends are devastated about the crash and how police say it happened.


"They should all be here with us," said Kevin, standing in front of Lake Shore High School on 13 Mile near Jefferson, the flag hanging at half-staff behind him. "It's hard seeing people go that don't deserve to go so early in life."


Jeff Robinson was pumping gas Monday night at Gratiot and Masonic when he heard the full-sized van crash into the teens at 8:30 p.m. He ran over to see if he could help the four teens inside the smashed red Chevrolet Cobalt, which had been stopped at a red light, waiting to turn into a Macomb Mall entrance, police said.


"I couldn't see the driver in the car, so I ran over to make sure he was in there," said Robinson, 42, of Clinton Township, this morning. "When I looked in I could tell, so then I backed up after I seen what I seen.


"They couldn't have seen it coming, I can tell you that."


Other witnesses stopped, telling police they saw the woman driving the full-sized Ford van speeding southbound on Gratiot just before the crash.


"Other people that stopped said they had seen that van between 14 and 15 on Gratiot doing 60, 80 miles an hour," said Robinson, who saw the woman but didn't say anything to her after the crash.


"She was just dazed, you know, just sitting in the van," Robinson said.


Grief counselors will be on hand today at the school to help students cope with the sudden tragedy.


That the charges are being leveled on St. Patrick's Day - a holiday known for heavy drinking - should be sobering, Smith said.


"After seeing what happened here, I will be very upset to learn of any drunk driving arrests in Macomb County tonight," he said.


Students and family intend to hold a rally at the Lake Shore High School football field at 5:30 p.m. today. Lake Shore High School is at 22980 East Thirteen Mile Road, St. Clair Shores.