Driver in deadly downtown crash booked into jail on suspicion of murder, records show
A woman police say crashed a stolen SUV into a family’s car during a police pursuit in downtown Wichita on Sunday, killing two people and sending two others to the hospital, has been booked into jail on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Mia Collins, the 24-year-old Douglass woman police say was in the SUV’s driver’s seat, was booked into Sedgwick County jail about 8 p.m. Tuesday. She had been in the hospital since the crash Sunday afternoon.
Collins was booked on suspicion of two counts of first-degree murder, probation violation, three counts of aggravated battery, driving with a suspended license and other traffic violations. She’s being held on $600,000 bond.
The crash at Douglas and Broadway killed 70-year-old Maria Wood and her 12-year-old granddaughter Rosemary McElroy, a Robinson Middle School student known to her friends as Rosie. Popular local musician Jenny Wood, 36, was also in the car with her mother and her niece. She is in the hospital in critical condition.
Alfred Angel, 65, was also hospitalized. He has since been released.
Wichita police chief Gordon Ramsay said Monday that his department planned to ask prosecutors to charge both Collins and her passenger, 38-year-old Christopher English, in connection with the crash.
Collins and English both have criminal records. Collins was on probation.
The police pursuit started when a Wichita officer’s license plate reader indicated a white BMW SUV was stolen. The officer followed the SUV into an apartment complex parking lot at 9th and Broadway and flipped on his lights when it slowed as if to park, Ramsay said.
Instead of parking, Collins pulled onto Broadway and sped off, police say.
About a minute later, the SUV smashed into the 1998 Toyota Camry that the Woodses and Rosie McElroy were in. The Camry spun out and crashed into Angel’s Chevy HHR.
The officer’s patrol car was 2 1/2 blocks away — at Second and Broadway — when that happened, Ramsay said, adding that the collision was captured on the officer’s body-worn camera. The public won’t see the footage unless it’s presented as evidence in court, or prosecutors decline to file criminal charges in the case, he said.
“I really look forward to showing that video, because it makes a clear picture of what occurred,” he said.
It’s unclear how fast the BMW and the patrol car were going. The speed limit on Broadway in that area is 30 mph. Ramsay said Monday that he “would suspect” the occupants of the stolen BMW knew they were being pursued.
“It’s really one of our nightmares that something like this occurs,” he said.
English remains in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Wichita police officer Charlie Davidson said Wednesday morning.
This story was originally published May 8, 2019 at 10:26 AM.