Ypsilanti man charged with drunk driving head-on crash killing mother of two
Maurice Griffin
FOX 2 (WJBK) - A Ypsilanti man was arraigned for a suspected drunk driving head-on crash that killed a mother of two.
Maurice Griffin faced a judge on Saturday, charged with five counts including homicide murder second degree, which carries up to a life sentence.
Investigators say Griffin, 37, was drunk when he crashed head-on, killing Desiree Jones on Michigan Avenue near Lilley in Canton at about 12:20 a.m. The force of the crash flipped the GMC Acadia that Griffin was driving, on its roof.
The Belleville woman had completed her shift at the Amazon warehouse and was driving home at the time of the crash. Griffin was injured in the crash but is expected to recover. His arraignment was held Saturday.
Griffin has two past drunk driving offenses and was not driving legally at the time according to investigators. He is also charged with:
Operating with a high blood alcohol content causing death with a prior conviction - a felony punishable by 20 years in prison
Reckless driving causing death, a felony punishable by 15 years in prison.
Operating license suspended, revoked, causing death, a felony punishable by 15 years in prison
Operating while intoxicated third offense, a felony punishable by one to 5 years in prison.
Griffin's bond was set a $1 million cash. He will next head to court on June 21 with his preliminary exam on June 28.
Jones had two children and planned to become a nurse, her husband told FOX 2.
"(She could) make anybody smile. Joyful person, she’s smart. All she wanted to do was love on me and her kids and be a nurse and just help people," he said. "She just took one of her tests and she just passed it, so she was actually getting ready to go to nursing school in January."