DETROIT (FOX 2) – A Detroit man is charged with murder after prosecutors say he recklessly drove at a high rate of speed and struck another driver, killing him.
Prior to the fatal crash, Zaughn Coleman, 29, had racked up dozens of speeding and traffic tickets despite driving on a suspended license, prosecutors said during his initial court appearance on Tuesday.
Coleman, who was arraigned from a hospital bed after suffering multiple injuries including a broken leg, entered a not guilty plea. The judge gave him a $500,000 bond after ruling he was a danger to the community.
“He’s an extreme extreme extreme danger to society,” assistant prosecutor Anna Merigian said during the virtual hearing.
The prosecutor’s office said Coleman was on Seven Mile doing donuts around 10:30 p.m. on June 14 when he took off at a high rate of speed. He drove through a red light before T-boning the victim, identified as 40-year-old Quintell Ray, also of Detroit.
Both were taken to a local hospital where Ray was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
Coleman broke his left leg in at least four places and has gone through multiple surgeries, his defense attorney said during the arraignment. Defense attorney Patrick Nyenhuis argued he would be bedridden for months because of his injuries and should be allowed a personal bond.
Nyenhuis also took issue with not being allowed a private moment with his client.
“I know this is a tragic situation we’re involved in, but this is one of those times – I know it’s 2nd-degree murder – and my request for personal bond is because I as counsel, went to Sinai Grace Hospital on Father’s Day, I was not allowed to see him because it was a security issue,” he told the court.
Nyenhuis said police would not leave the two alone and would be required to stay on the other line if they had a phone call.
“The community is safe with him in the hospital,” he said.
However, the judge was unconvinced and scheduled an unaffordable bond reading later this week to readdress the $500,000 bond limit.
In addition to his second-degree murder charge, Coleman was also charged with reckless driving causing death, and operating while his license was suspended causing death.
Source Agencies
