Train death results in continued trials; settlement reached

BY LINDSAY JACKSON
OCT. 25, 2007

Six months after the death of 19-year-old student Beth Speidel, her friends still face legal charges, plea agreements and trials related to their interactions with Speidel on the night she died.

Danielle Davis, 20, is the first of five charged in the case to reach a settlement. The state charged Davis, a resident of the Brown Road apartment Speidel visited on April 13, with allegedly Speidel alcohol hours prior to her death. Davis and her attorney, Daniel Haughey, entered a guilty plea on Oct. 11 to the charges brought against her. According to Butler County Prosecutor Michael Baker, Davis is required to complete 30 hours of community service, donate $100 to a law enforcement trust fund and pay all court costs. It also requires her to partake in the Diversion Program, a two-day alcohol education program that allows first-time offenders to have the offense removed from their criminal record upon completion of the program. Baker said Davis was eligible for the program as a first-time offender of alcohol-related crimes such as underage drinking.

Baker said he was not surprised that Davis’ attorney, Haughey, accepted the plea agreement.

“It’s a good offer that he just couldn’t pass up,” said Baker.

Haughey and Davis could not be reached for comment regarding this resolved case.

Davis is one of five Miami University students who have been charged with providing alcohol to Speidel just prior to her death. According to police reports, Speidel’s body was struck by an eastbound CSX freight train near the South Locust Street tracks at approximately 1:45 a.m. on April 14. Her body was discovered at 3:20 a.m. by a second train. A coroner’s report showed Speidel died of head trauma with a blood-alcohol level of .229, more than twice the legal limit.

Two other students charged in the case, Kathleen Byrne, 19, and Kristina Sicker, 20, entered motions to suppress incriminating evidence obtained by the Oxford Police Department on April 16 by Detective Shelly Sikora. The State charged Byrne and Sicker with allegedly furnishing Speidel alcohol at their apartment on Brown Road. Attorney Wayne Staton, who represents Byrne and Sicker, said he was confident in the young women’s likelihood of avoiding a trial. He also mentioned he has no intention of entering into a plea agreement if offered and will instead proceed with trial if his motion is overruled.

“I think I’m going to win the motion to suppress,” said Staton on Oct. 18 just hours prior to Judge Robert Lyons’ of the Butler Area I Court in Oxford ruling in favor of the two women.

Even though Lyons granted Staton’s motion, prosecuting attorney Baker said has every intention of appealing the decision.

“It [the appeal] is already set,” said Baker.

Staton also represents Christine Carr, 19, the fourth resident at the Brown Road apartment who was charged with providing alcohol to an underage Speidel. Carr has moved for a motion of alibi, which states that she was not present at the apartment and did not furnish alcohol to Speidel. Staton believes the State does not have a sufficient case against Carr. No date for her trial has been set.

“I assume the case will be thrown out for lack of evidence,” he said.

Maureen Grady, 20, and Columbus defense attorney David Thomas likewise filed a motion to suppress evidence gathered by Sikora on April 16. Grady is being charged with furnishing Speidel an alcoholic beverage at Pachinkos, a bar on Main Street, the evening of her death. On Oct. 11, Lyons favored the State’s argument, thus overruling Grady’s motion, and set a pretrial hearing for Grady on Oct. 18. At the pretrial, Thomas, requested a continuance, delaying the court proceedings. Due to the sensitivity of the case, Thomas has remained tight-lipped around the media.

“I can’t really comment on cases that are pending,” said Thomas. “And I don’t really have any desire to talk to the media about a criminal case. Maybe when everything is over.”

With regards to Grady’s upcoming scheduled trial, Thomas said: “I don’t know when the trial has been set. I expect to hear soon.”