Manslaughter charge filed after Columbia crash victim dies

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

CORRECTION: The speed limit on Grindstone Parkway has been corrected.

A Boone County prosecutor filed a manslaughter charge Wednesday against a woman accused of causing a crash that killed a man who was picking up cones after a bike race.

Regine McCracken is now charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter in the death of Randall Siddens. Siddens died Monday. He suffered serious injuries in the May 5 crash, requiring extensive medical treatment.

McCracken was originally charged in July with assault and careless driving. Police say McCracken was using her cellphone for a video call at the time of the crash and was driving 68 mph in a 50 mph zone on Grindstone Avenue.

Crash investigators determined McCracken's vehicle hit a parked vehicle and two men and almost hit a police vehicle. One of the men was thrown nearly 130 feet, according to a probable cause statement filed with the initial charges.

Boone County assistant prosecutor Nicholas Komoroski also filed a motion Monday to revoke McCracken's $50,000 bond. Police arrested McCracken when charges were first filed and she bonded out.

Komoroski's motion asks for a $50,000 cash-only bond and for a warrant to be issued for McCracken's arrest.

Former prosecuting attorney Bill Tackett said involuntary manslaughter could be easier to prove than assault.

"Prosecutors look for, "What's the highest grade of crime I can charge that is more easily provable?' And so that's what is the chess game of prosecution," Tackett said.

He also said the change to involuntary manslaughter would be specific to the injuries Siddens received.

"In a case where you have an automobile running over somebody or hitting somebody, there's obviously a direct correlation that would hold up in court. So that supports the involuntary manslaughter charge and has a reckless standard," he said.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 18.