Benton Harbor City Commissioner Ron Singleton will not be facing criminal charges for a vehicle crash last year that resulted in the death of a pedestrian.
The Berrien County Prosecutor’s office has completed its review of the incident and determined there’s no probable cause to pursue a case against Singleton.
On September 23, police were called to Napier Avenue near Milton Avenue in Benton Township around 8:30 p.m. on a report of a struck pedestrian. They found 74-year-old Helen Johnson unresponsive and learned she’d been struck by Singleton’s vehicle while crossing Napier. Johnson died early the next morning.
The prosecutor says Singleton told Benton Township Police at the time he saw Johnson in the road in front of him but couldn’t move over because of a vehicle in the other lane next to him. He submitted to a blood alcohol test and no substances were found in his blood at the time of the crash. Additionally, the prosecutor says a review of the black box from Singleton’s vehicle found he’d been driving under the speed limit, there was no street lighting or traffic control devices at the location of the crash, and the sun had already set at 7:40 p.m.
The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department Accident Reconstruction Team also studied the crash and determined Singleton was not able to avoid Johnson. For all of these reasons, Berrien County Prosecutor Amy Byrd says she does not have probable cause to issue charges in the incident.
A letter from Byrd announcing her conclusions:
