MONROE, Mich. (WXYZ) — On day two of the Swan Boat Club crash trial, we took a break outside the courtroom with Brian Phillips, the father of the two kids who were killed in the crash.
He told us, "Coming here is just a reality that they’re really, really gone," Phillips said of 8-year-old Alanah and 4-year-old Zayn
"She was always my princess. Like she was a daddy’s girl, we look just alike," said Phillips, referring to Alanah. He said Zayn, "was a little Hulk."
See more from our interview with Brian in the video below
Both of the children were directly hit by 67-year-old Marshella Chidester's vehicle as it came barreling through the boat club wall into a 3-year-old's birthday party.
Screaming, crying, and chaos ensued.
On Tuesday, Brian watched the prosecution's video evidence of the day with the rest of the courtroom.
"Seeing that video is very haunting," said Phillips. "It was like a straight shot for it happening. So seeing that, my heart drops to my stomach seeing it every time."
She faces two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury.
It is alleged that she was drunk when she crashed into the club, and that's the main arguing point between the defense and the prosecution.
The prosecution presented video evidence Tuesday to suggest that she was. Among the evidence was Monroe County Sheriff’s Office body camera video from directly after the crash.
In the video the deputy asks Chidester, “On a scale of 0 - 10, 0 being like you're stone cold sober and you can drive perfectly, 10 being you're passed out drunk, where do you think you’re at right now?"
In the video Chidester responds, "Uhh a 7”…. I wouldn’t want to drive."
At the hospital following the crash, Chidester had her blood alcohol content tested. The kit showed that her BAC was .18, the legal limit in Michigan is .08. The defense argues that the kit was not refrigerated after use, and that Chidester's blood started to ferment as a result.
In court, Chidester's attorney Bill Colovos asked one of the witnesses, Deputy Steven Schmidt, "Did you refrigerate it?"
Schmidt replied, "No."
Near the end of Tuesday Zayn and Alanah's mother, Mariah Dodds, testified. She is one of the 15 surviving victims of the crash that was hit.
She said that she remembers waking up in the hospital; "And then I freaked out because it hit me, 'Where’s my kids at?' And then that’s when she told me that Jayden was life-flighted and Zayn and Alanah were no longer here."
See more from Mariah's testimony in the video below
Jayden is Dodds' and Phillip's third child. He survived the crash but was seriously injured.
Phillips told us that Jayden is working on walking again, and he himself visits the childrens' grave every day. He said that he brings the children gifts and sings to them. He's trying his best.
"The only thing I want out of all this is I want my kids to rest peacefully," said Phillips.
