A 55-year-old Des Moines woman was booked into the Polk County Jail on Wednesday, more than a month after a crash near Bondurant left a Marshalltown woman dead and several others hurt. Deanna May now faces a homicide by vehicle charge tied to the Sept. 30 wreck at the intersection of NE 56th Street and NE 94th Avenue.
May was booked into the jail Wednesday, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, as reported by KCCI. Investigators believe May was driving a vehicle that failed to stop at a stop sign before entering the intersection northwest of Bondurant, the station reports. Her blood-alcohol content was recorded at .239, according to the same KCCI report.
The crash happened around 4 p.m. on Sept. 30 at the intersection of Northeast 56th Street and Northeast 94th Avenue, according to the Des Moines Register. Linda Fristoe, of Marshalltown, died from injuries sustained in the three-vehicle collision, the Register reported. Three other people were injured in the crash, though their identities had not been released, per the same account. KCCI's reporting states the crash involved three vehicles and left four people hospitalized.
Charges Filed Against May
May faces a charge of homicide by vehicle while operating under the influence, a Class B felony, the station's report notes. She also faces operating while under the influence, second offense, an aggravated misdemeanor, along with two counts of serious injury by vehicle while operating under the influence, both Class D felonies.
A simple-misdemeanor charge of failure to obey a stop sign and yield right of way rounds out the charges against her, per the same KCCI account. The Polk County Sheriff's Office notes that a record of an arrest is not an indication of guilt, a standard disclaimer that applies to jail bookings generally. Separately, the Polk County Attorney's Office describes Homicide or Serious Injury by Vehicle charges generally as applying when someone unintentionally causes another's death while driving intoxicated, recklessly, or while drag racing — a general description of the charge category, not a finding specific to this case.
A Second Fatal Crash at the Same Intersection
The Sept. 30 crash was not the first deadly wreck at that stretch of road this year. In May, 19-year-old Samantha Moore of Ankeny died after the car she was riding in collided with a dump truck at the same intersection, according to KCCI's earlier reporting on a county safety study. WHO 13 also reported that Moore was killed on May 3 at the same intersection, and that two people have died there since May.
Polk County is now hiring a consultant to conduct a comprehensive traffic safety study of the NE 94th Avenue and NE 56th Street corridors, according to WHO 13. The county's study will examine crash history, traffic volumes and vehicle speeds at the intersection, with officials considering an all-way stop, a traffic signal or a roundabout to improve safety, according to the station's earlier coverage. The county has already added safety measures to the signs at the intersection, with preliminary recommendations expected in about two weeks and a full report anticipated in roughly 10 weeks.
