Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Oak Park Woman, 21, Charged with 2nd-Degree Murder in Fiery 3-Way Crash

Sarah Gaynor, who is recovering from injuries suffered during the collision, was arraigned Wednesday by video in 45-A District Court in Berkley.

A 21-year-old Oak Park woman was arraigned Wednesday on a second-degree murder charge in the death of Terrence Dyer, 42, of Detroit, who was killed March 20 in a fiery three-car accident near 12 Mile and Greenfield roads.

Sarah Gaynor, who is recovering from injuries suffered during the collision, was arraigned by video in in Berkley, said Director Robert North.

He said she also faces the following alternate charges:

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  • Count 2: reckless driving, causing death,
  • Count 3: operating while intoxicated causing death (while THC was in her body), and
  • Count 4: failure to stop at the scene of an accident.

THC is a substance found in the cannabis plant.

The night of the accident, Gaynor's vehicle was traveling west on 12 Mile Road and struck Dyer's westbound vehicle, pushing it across Greenfield Road, where a third vehicle traveling eastbound also was hit, North said.  Moments before that crash, he said, Gaynor also clipped a vehicle at 12 Mile Road and Coolidge Highway.

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The third driver in the crash that killed Dyer was hospitalized and released, Public Safety officials have said.

Gaynor was released Wednesday on $150,000 personal bond, with the following conditions, North said:

  • she can't leave home except for medical appointments or court appearances
  • she must wear a GPS tether
  • she can't drive
  • she must submit to random drug and alcohol tests
  • she can have no contact with the victim's family.

"We have no comment," said Gaynor's family, when reached by phone Wednesday. Questions were referred to her attorney, Randy C. Rodnick, who said Gaynor has had prior hospitalizations for mental illness.

Rodnick said he intends to request a mental competency and responsibility forensic examination during a preliminary exam that will be held June 7 at 45-A District Court in Berkley.


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