Detroit Man Charged With Murder After Crash That Killed Two Outside Bar

Overview

• A vehicle struck two friends outside Teresa's Place bar on McNichols near Schaefer, and both victims, 43-year-old Erica Smith and 51-year-old Dawad Helton, were pronounced dead at the scene.
• Wayne County prosecutors charged 29-year-old Nicholas Alexander Lee-Nathan with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death, and two counts of reckless driving causing death.
• Prosecutors allege Lee-Nathan was intoxicated and traveling at a high rate of speed when he struck the pedestrians; those allegations come from the prosecutor's office and witness accounts.
• Bystanders reportedly pulled the suspected driver from his car to keep him from leaving, medics treated the driver at the scene and he was later taken to a hospital before being arraigned and remanded to jail.
• Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy called the crash preventable and said the defendant faces life in prison if convicted; the case remains under active investigation with additional court dates scheduled.