An Elkhorn woman pleaded not guilty Feb. 23 to homicide charges in connection with an August crash in the Town of Delavan that killed a pedestrian and a passenger in the car she was driving.
Brittney R. Dixon, 22, was charged Feb. 8 in Walworth County Circuit Court with two counts of homicide by vehicle with the use of a controlled substance and felony bail jumping.
According to the criminal complaint, Dixon was driving a car that hit a man who had pulled a flatbed truck over on Highway 11 in the Town of Delavan on Aug. 7 and was walking toward a trailer attached to the truck.
Police believe the truck driver, Norman Brummel, 85, was moving toward the rear of the trailer and was within several inches of it when the car Dixon was driving struck Brummel and then struck the left rear corner of the trailer, pinning Brummel against it.
Brummel was taken to Aurora Lakeland Medical Center in Elkhorn where he was pronounced dead at about 11:25 a.m. – less than half an hour after the crash.
A passenger in Dixon’s car, Estefania Martinez, struck the windshield upon impact and died eight days later at Summit Hospital in Oconomowoc from head trauma, according to the complaint.
Dixon told police she thought she had dropped a cigarette while driving and looked down to see where it was when “there was a guy right in front of her” and she didn’t have time to stop, according to the complaint. She said she had not drunk alcohol that day but had used marijuana the night before.
Dixon was taken to Mercy Walworth Hospital and Medical Center where she was given pain medication before her blood was drawn at 1 p.m., two hours after the crash, according to the complaint. Dixon’s blood tested positive for benzodiazepines, opiates, cannabinoids and cocaine metabolites.
Benzodiazepines, sometimes called “benzos,” are tranquilizers such as Valium and Xanax. When police spoke to Dixon at Mercy Walworth, a lieutenant noted she spoke very quietly and was difficult to understand, according to the complaint.
According to the National Library of Medicine, benzodiazepines are known to carry risks of dependence, withdrawal and negative, cognitive side effects. According to a report from Dr. Snehal Bhatt, available through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on the Indian Health Service website, ihs.gov, benzodiazepines can lead to over sedation, motor impairment, slowed cognition and amnesia, slurred speech and impairments in attention and concentration.
Dixon was under bond conditions at the time of the crash on charges of harboring or aiding a felon and resisting or obstructing an officer. Dixon is next set to appear for a status conference on March 29 in Walworth County Circuit Court.
