New charges likely to change trial date in fatal police chase
A trial is set to begin Nov. 19 for a Dayton woman accused of prompting a deadly, highspeed police chase.
But her attorney said he doubts that date will hold if more charges are filed against his client.
Grand theft is the single charge, at this point, facing Alyssa Irwin-DeBraux after the Sept. 11 fatal collision in Miami Twp. involving Moraine Officer Matt Barrie and local Realtor Mary Taulbee.
Taulbee, 57, of Lebanon died after the wreck on Ohio 741 during Barrie’s chase – which reached 85 miles per hour — of a Jeep that matched the description of one that was stolen earlier that day, records show.
Defense attorney Travis Kane said he has discussed with prosecutors the possibility of more charges, including a homicide-related count. As of Monday, however, no additional charges had been filed against Irwin-DeBraux.
“It’s a little confusing as to why the state needs to take as much time to make a decision as to what they’re going to do,” Kane said Monday after Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Michael Krumholtz set a trial date.
“They’ve been informing me that their investigators are still working together to reconstruct the crash scene,” Kane added. “I don’t know what the hold-up is, or why they need much more additional time. That’s why we had to set a trial date.”
The county prosecutor’s office has said little about the filing of additional charges against Irwin-DeBraux. Attempts to reach prosecutors on Monday were unsuccessful.
The defendant has been in the Montgomery County Jail — where she is being held on a $25,000 cash bond — since the night of the fatal wreck. Irwin-DeBraux has since been indicted on grand theft. A not guilty plea has been entered on her behalf.
Authorities said Irwin-DeBraux stole a Jeep in Harrison Twp. that the owner tracked by GPS to Moraine. Records show Barrie spotted a vehicle matching the stolen Jeep’s description, attempted to perform a traffic stop and then pursued it on Ohio 741 from Moraine to Miami Twp., reaching nearly double the 45-mph speed limit.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the southbound pursuit resulted in a fatal collision at Carnation Road involving Barrie and Taulbee, who had worked for years in Dayton, Englewood, Miamisburg, Springboro and Washington Twp.
The northbound car driven by Taulbee was propelled into the southbound lane after colliding with a car driven by a Centerville man, according to highway patrol. Brandon Miller, 32, wrecked seeking to avoid the oncoming Jeep, officials said.
Irwin-DeBraux was arrested that night on suspicion of grand theft in connection with the stolen Jeep after it flipped minutes later near the Dayton Mall, records show.