Prosecutors on Wednesday charged a man with second-degree murder in a car crash that killed five people in southeastern Michigan, saying he was intoxicated and ignored a stop sign.
Matthew Carrier, of Fenton, faces charges including five counts second-degree murder, operating while intoxicated causing death, and driving with a suspended license causing death, the Livingston County prosecutor’s office said. He faces life in prison if convicted.
“Under Michigan law, second-degree murder applies to circumstances where someone commits an act with a high probability that it will result in death, and does so in obvious disregard for human life,” Prosecutor William Vailliencourt said in a statement.
Carrier was arrested without incident, the prosecutor’s office said. He was jailed ahead of a Wednesday hearing and didn’t have a lawyer on record.
Authorities said Carrier smashed into Albert Boswell’s vehicle May 9 in Livingston County. Two people in Carrier’s vehicle died. Three in the vehicle driven by Boswell died, including a probation agent Candice Dunn who had been honored at a Corrections Department banquet that night.
The secretary of state’s office earlier said neither driver had a valid driver’s license.
Police have described the accident as a “T-bone” crash in a rural area, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) northwest of Detroit.