The parents of MSU student Dannielle Brandt, who was struck by a vehicle and killed on campus on Feb. 3, released police and investigation reports — which were obtained through a lawyer and private investigator — to The State News on Tuesday.
The 69-page packet includes a 4-page letter from Ingham County's Assistant Prosecutor Linda Maloney, sketches of the accident scene, photo logs, inspection of the vehicle that struck Brandt and an autopsy report. The packet also reveals the names of the driver and witnesses, as well as a full description of the events surrounding Brandt's death.
According to Officer Les Diebolt's narrative and Maloney's letter, Brandt was wearing dark clothing — including a sweatshirt, blue jeans and brown shoes, and was carrying a blue backpack at the time of the accident. Diebolt's narrative of the accident states, "Brandt had the ability to see vehicles traveling on Mount Hope better than the vehicles would be able to see her."
On Feb. 3, Brandt was walking back to her dorm room from the Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education, heading north across Mount Hope Road.
Diebolt's narrative reads that when crossing the street, "the victim used poor strategy to cross while there were cars in the area."
There are no crosswalks at the intersection of Mount Hope Road and Farm Lane.
The traffic light for westbound traffic turned green as Brandt crossed the road, and there was one car at the light and another approaching. The driver at the light, Thomas Michael Penfield, was in the inner-most lane of the four-lane road and stopped in the middle of the intersection when he saw Brandt crossing. In Diebolt's written interview with Penfield, the witness said Brandt was heading from the fire hydrant on the southwest corner of the intersection to the sidewalk on the northwest side. Also from the interview, Brandt's pace was described as slow, and that "she never looked toward him, even though he had started up and then stopped in the intersection."
Another driver in the outer-most lane, Jordan James Shouldice, approached the green light going 45 to 50 mph. Diebolt's report stated that "he should have been alerted by Penfield's vehicle coming to a stop," but went on to say that "perception time plus reaction time over the distance traveled made it impossible for Shouldice to brake in time to stop."
Shouldice was unable to be reached for comment Tuesday.
According to various sources in the packet, the driver tried to swerve to the left toward Penfield's car to avoid Brandt. However, the report said, "It does appear Brandt turned south and was struck in her left side." Shouldice reportedly stopped after hitting Brandt. Penfield pulled his vehicle behind Shouldice's vehicle and talked with him.
Witnesses Michael Thomas Galka and Angela Marie Tiberia saw brake lights and a body in the road as they drove on Mount Hope Road, according to Diebolt's interviews with them. They stopped and tried to help Brandt as she lay in the roadway. CPR was not performed on Brandt by either Galka or Tiberia because there was blood covering her face. Meridian Township police Officer Chris Lofton and an MSU police officer performed CPR on Brandt until East Lansing medics arrived.
The driver passed sobriety tests, including the walk and turn and the one-leg stand, which were performed at the scene. According to Lofton's report, the driver had a Breathalyzer result of .03 percent and "did not appear to be visibly impaired due to the consumption of alcoholic liquor."
Preliminary results in a report from Sparrow Forensic Services said Brandt's cause of death was "multiple blunt force injuries due to motor vehicle-pedestrian collision," and the death was described as accidental.
In Maloney's letter addressed to Meridian Township police Sgt. Greg Frenger, she summarized the accident based on the information her office received. She wrote in her letter that to constitute negligent homicide, it must be proven that the driver drove in a negligent manner and that it was the cause of Brandt's death.
In her conclusion, she said no charges would be brought against the driver because "Ms. Brandt crossed against the light, moving slowly, and seemingly oblivious to traffic ? Ms. Brandt was dressed in dark clothing and shielded from Mr. Shouldice's view until right before impact," and "Mr. Shouldice's attempt to avoid striking Ms. Brandt was compromised by Ms. Brandt's reaction of stepping back to the south."
Brandt's father, Ken, said the police report he and his wife requested under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act was 20 pages less than what his lawyer received. He said he was told by the lawyer that he could subpoena for the photos.
"I don't know if I really need them — I'm sickened enough over the situation," he said. "You can close your eyes and imagine."
Hospitality business junior April Fredell, Brandt's roommate for two years, said she is upset police didn't release the information. She said if the driver was innocent, then there should be no problem.
"You want to know what happened so you can move on," she said. "It just didn't help me put anything to peace not knowing what happened."
Lindsey Poisson can be reached at poisson4@msu.edu.
