Engaged father to 5 killed by suspected drunk driver in Redford

REDFORD TWP. Mich. (WJBK) - They were a happy couple, engaged to be married only to be torn apart by an alleged drunk driver.

The groom-to-be, killed in the crash and his young bride now in intensive care.

Jerome Zirker and Brittany Johnson had been together for years. Between the two of them, they had five children and ten years together.

"There was like a bang and everything was just over," said Brittany Johnson.

Jerome Zirker was killed early Thursday morning on Beech Daly in Redford Township. According to police, Amanda Kosal was drunk when her pick-up truck hit his SUV head-on.

"She took everything away from me," Johnson said. "And it's horrible."

"No words, just speechless," said Rathel Fizer, the victim's mother. "Just speechless, losing your youngest boy."

"Never in a million years did I imagine my life without my brother," said Darreen Zirker, Jerome's sister.

The woman who allegedly caused the fatal crash, 25-year-old Amanda Kosal, was arraigned by video in court Friday. The judge set her bond at $350,000.

While she is only required to come up with 10 percent of that, her attorney argued and complained that the bond was too high leading to a terse exchange.

"You know what, I've been a judge for a long time," said Judge Charlotte Wirth. "I set my bonds to make sure people show up and that the community is safe. If you are threatening to take me to the Judicial Tenure Commission because I set a bond on driving while intoxicated causing death, you feel it's too high, feel free to do so. I'm finished."

One day before Kosal was arrested she had gotten a prior charge expunged from her record.

"She had a prior record as to a possession situation," her attorney Nabih Ayad said.

FOX 2: "Drug possession?"

"Yes a drug possession," Ayad said.

"I guess she was out celebrating," said Rathel Fizer. "But on whose expense. At my son's expense."