Pontiac man, 26, charged in police pursuit that killed Warren mother of 2
Darcie MoranA 26-year-old Pontiac man has been charged in the fatal police pursuit that left a 42-year-old mom of two dead over the weekend.
James L. Hudson Jr. was arraigned Tuesday in 37th District Court in Warren on charges including second-degree murder in connection with the crash that killed Katrina Michael, of Warren, Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido and Warren Police Commissioner Charles Rushton announced at a news conference the same day.
The officials raised concern with reckless driving in the area and stood by police actions in the pursuit, which started when officers spotted three Dodge Chargers driving fast on 8 Mile Road at 1:34 a.m. Saturday and tried to stop the vehicles for suspected drag racing, police said.
While one Dodge Charger stopped — police initially said none had — the others continued, with one eventually striking a Jeep Cherokee carrying Michael and the Jeep driver, Rushton said.
Hudson, his two passengers and the driver of the Jeep were all injured but listed in stable condition Saturday. Police on Tuesday were still seeking one driver who continued to flee after the crash and the matter remains under investigation.
Rushton said Hudson chose to drag race, chose to flee, and chose to drive in a reckless manner that ended in tragedy. And Rushton said police have a duty to act in these cases.
“These people are driving in such a manner that it makes their vehicle a weapon,” he said. “It's basically a 5,000-pound bullet driving down 8 Mile."
Police dashboard camera videos shown at the news conference showed police attempted to deploy a tire deflation device, but one voice can be heard saying “might have went too early.”
Rushton said the suspect vehicle unfortunately changed directions.
This is the latest of several Warren police pursuits that have ended in fatalities since December.
In December 2023, police reported a suspect fleeing a stop on an expired license plate crashed while driving through a red light, according to Fox 2 Detroit (WJBK-TV).
In May, police reported a suspect fleeing a stop for speeding rolled their vehicle as police began to end their pursuit, according to WXYZ-TV (Channel 7).
Speaking Tuesday, Rushton pushed back on terming prior incidents “nonviolent stops,” saying one suspect was wanted on multiple felonies including a homicide and the other was found to have had a handgun when not legally allowed.
“Part of the problem is, even if we terminate the pursuit (it) doesn't necessarily mean that driver is immediately going to slow back down … to the speed limit and start driving in a normal manner,” he said.
He said in the last month, two pursuits police terminated resulted in serious injuries after the fact, with one happening eight minutes after the pursuit ended. He said the chances that a person keeps driving recklessly plays into whether police pursue someone or continue a pursuit.
Pursuits are down 50% over two years, and about a year and a half ago, the department made a change to require remote supervision of pursuits where supervisors can tap into police car cameras in real-time, Rushton said. That was done on Saturday.
Just looking at the dashboard video, Rushton estimated the drivers were going well over 100 mph.
Michael was the mother of two boys, one 18 and one 14, officials said.
Hudson faces life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. He faces eight charges in total, with multiple counts of lesser charges including fleeing and eluding, and reckless driving causing serious injury.
Hudson is being held on a $1 million cash or surety bond and is slated to return to court for a probable cause hearing July 15 and a preliminary examination July 23, Lucido said.