KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A jury is set to decide the fate of a man accused of killing a Schoolcraft married couple in a car crash over a year-and-a-half ago.
According to Kalamazoo County Assistant Prosecutor Aubrey Koches, high speeds and alcohol were factors in the crash that killed high school sweethearts Joel and Dolores Shaffer in May of 2021.
During opening statements in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court on Thursday, Koches said that 28-year-old Ezra Phillips of Saginaw was accused of driving 115 miles per hour in a Dodge Durango about 5 seconds before the fatal impact, but had slowed the SUV down to 83 miles per hour when he braked to try to avoid the crash.
According to court records, Phillips is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death, and is also charged as a habitual offender, third offense.
Authorities report that he was driving south on U.S. 131, and was crossing the intersection at West XY Avenue about a mile south of Schoolcraft when the crash happened just before 3 p.m. on May 7th, 2021. Police also indicated that Phillips had a blood alcohol content of .16, twice Michigan’s legal limit of .08 when he crashed into the Shaffer’s Chevrolet Impala in an area where the posted speed limit is 55.
Both Dolores and Joel Shaffer were pronounced dead at the scene.
