A Pottawatomie County judge has ordered a Shawnee woman accused in a fatal traffic accident to stand trial on a first-degree manslaughter charge.
Special District Judge Mary A. Black denied a prosecutor's motion to amend the charge against Darrah R. Walck to second-degree murder. Black set a June 30 arraignment date following Walck's preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege Walck, 26, was impaired by intoxicating liquor while driving a car that crashed on U.S. 177, killing passenger Lee Pena early Dec. 28.
Misty Moore, 26, who was injured in the crash, testified that she and Walck drank beer and shots of alcohol at an Oklahoma City night club before Walck drove back.
Moore said Walck drove about 90 mph along Interstate 40, with Moore, Clark Kinkade, 33, and Pena as passengers.
Moore said she "flashed" another car in which some friends were riding by pulling up her shirt while standing through the car's sunroof.
As the car traveled along U.S. 177, Moore said she remembers hitting "the center median thing," then hitting trees. At some point before the accident, Moore said she grabbed the steering wheel because of Walck's driving.
Jai Batson, a passenger in the car behind them, testified seeing the car slowly drift off to the left, jerk right and disappear into the dark.
Batson said he found the car hanging at a steep angle in a creek bed. Walck was on the driver's side, Moore on the passenger side and Kinkade was hanging out of the sunroof.
"I never could see Lee," he said.
The defense didn't call any witnesses.
Test results from Walck's blood sample show the blood alcohol content was 0.06.
Walck remains free on bond until her next court date. If convicted, she could face imprisonment for no less than four years.
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Information from: The Shawnee News-Star, http://www.news-star.com
