/

Kingfield woman re-indicted on manslaughter charge

2 mins read
Danielle Larochelle (Photo courtesy of Franklin County Detention Center)

FARMINGTON – A Kingfield woman was indicted by the Franklin County grand jury for the second time Thursday, on manslaughter and operating under the influence charges relating to a fatal crash that occurred on the West Kingfield Road in July 2018.

Danielle Larochelle, 31 of Kingfield, was indicted Thursday on one count of manslaughter, a Class A felony, and one count of aggravated operating under the influence, a Class B felony.

Both charges relate to a crash that occurred in Kingfield on July 8, 2018. According to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, at approximately 10 p.m. that evening, a silver 2004 Chevy Aveo was traveling westbound on the West Kingfield Road when it left the roadway and struck several trees. One of the four occupants, Nicholas Shurtleff, 25 of Strong, was flung from the vehicle and died at the scene.

According to the state’s case, Larochelle had been the driver, with police previously indicating that her blood alcohol content had been more than twice the legal limit. Police said that Larochelle’s blood alcohol content was .219 percent grams per 100 mL of blood. The legal BAC limit in Maine is .08 percent for drivers over the age of 21.

Larochelle reportedly told police that she had been attempting to avoid a deer in the road when the crash occurred.

Larochelle was arrested on the felony OUI charge in August 2018 by Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. She was indicted in January; the manslaughter charge was added at that time.

In June, a dismissal was filed by Deputy District Attorney James Andrews, indicating that the state had insufficient evidence to proceed at that time. That dismissal also said that additional evidence had been discovered that required further investigation. The charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be brought back at a later date.

An indictment means that after considering the evidence the district attorney has presented, the grand jury believes there is probable cause, or a “reasonable belief” that the crime occurred.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

9 Comments

  1. Once again the DA let the people of Franklin county down with the inability to prosecute drunk drivers. Absolutely disgusting but expected given their track record of I don’t think I can win even though this person was twice the legal limit. Must have been the deer’s fault.

  2. Hopefully this time the justice system actually does it’s job. The D.A. to the judge let the people down now it’s time to fix that.

  3. Taxpayer, the DA moved for dismissal because he didn’t have her blood, the breathalyzer is sufficient for an arrest and misdemeanor OUI, for criminal cases and trials the blood is needed, The DA has no control over when the lab gets around to doing things. The grand jury was given the evidence on hand and made their ruling based on it, but GJ decisions are not enough to convict, only that there maybe enough evidence to move to trial, which obviously the DA was probably hoping the blood evidence would be in by then and the case could proceed, but it wasn’t so he asked for a dismissal.

  4. HEY HRTLSS as an individual related to the incident I would like to politely ask you not to speak of such things that you know nothing about. Thank you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.