Columbus police charge woman with DUI-marijuana in Moon Road crash that killed motorcyclist
A Columbus crash last year that killed a Florida motorcyclist has left a Salem, Alabama, woman facing charges of driving under the influence of marijuana.
Maddelyn Everton’s blood tested positive for marijuana metabolites after she turned left across the path of an oncoming Harley Davidson motorcycle Nov. 26 on Moon Road at the westbound entrance ramp to J.R. Allen Parkway, police said.
Everton’s northbound 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee collided with a southbound motorcycle ridden by Steven Duffey, 56, of Pensacola, Florida, police said. Duffey was hurled onto the roadside after his bike hit the Jeep’s front end, according to the accident report.
Duffey later died from his injuries at Piedmont Columbus Regional, investigators said.
Both vehicles were wrecked in the 4 p.m. crash, police said. A security camera on a nearby Synovus building at 7300 Moon Road recorded the collision, showing several cars were in the left-turn lane in front of Everton, and they safely turned onto the parkway ramp before she cut in front of the motorcycle, an officer testified Monday in Columbus Recorder’s Court.
Police searching Everton’s Jeep found a gym bag in the rear of the vehicle, he said. Within it was a cloth Crown Royal bag that contained 5.8 grams of marijuana, he said.
Defense attorney Susan Henderson tried to persuade Recorder’s Court Judge Julius Hunter to set a low bond on Everton’s charges, noting Everton works two jobs here in Columbus.
“Her heart has been broken over this,” Henderson said. “She has been devastated by what happened.”
Hunter set Everton’s bonds at $25,000 for homicide by vehicle, $2,500 for driving under the influence of drugs, $250 for misdemeanor possession of marijuana and $100 for making an improper left turn.
Duffey’s death marked the second fatal motorcycle crash on Moon Road in two months: On Oct. 2, a man driving a Ford van pulled out of Canady Street in front of a northbound Kawasaki motorcycle that crashed into the driver’s side of the van, killing the rider, 20-year-old Noah West of Columbus, police said.
This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 1:32 PM.