Star woman arrested on felony vehicular manslaughter charge
Star Police and Ada County Sheriff's deputies have arrested a Star woman on a felony charge of vehicular manslaughter, in connection with a crash that killed a 5-year-old boy in June.
According to Andrea Dearden, a spokeswoman for the Ada County Sheriff’s Department, a judge issued an arrest warrant for Helen C. Burgess, 42, of Star, early Thursday afternoon and ordered her held on a $1 million bond. Deputies arrested Burgess on the felony warrant a short time later in Star. She was later transported to the Ada County Jail.
The investigation into Burgess began the morning of June 16, Dearden said in a news release, when she drove her Ford Explorer into the back of a Dodge Caravan that was stopped at a red light at the intersection of Highway 44 and Highway 16.
A 5-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl were seriously injured in the crash. The 5-year-old died the following day as a result of his injuries. The 7-year-old was hospitalized for an extended period of time, but has since been released.
Evidence and information gathered during the course of the investigation shows Burgess was under the influence of several different prescription drugs at levels that caused her to be impaired at the time of the crash, Dearden said.
Burgess is scheduled to be arraigned on the vehicular manslaughter charge Friday afternoon in district court.
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