WAUSAU, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – A woman entered a ‘no contest’ plea Monday to a causing a fatal crash in July, 2015.
Prosecutors said Lorie Ann Miller was texting on her cell phone as she drove home from work when she crashed into 52-year-old Donna David on her bike. Miller was charged with homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle.
David was riding on County Highway T in the Town of McMillan just outside Marshfield about 6 p.m. when she was hit. She was training for the Des Moines Register’s annual great bicycle ride across Iowa and was wearing a helmet, authorities said.
Miller, a director of nurses in Arpin, told investigators she was on her way home and only remembered “the thud of hitting something and realized she hit someone after pulling over and exiting vehicle,” the criminal complaint said. “Miller stated she didn’t remember seeing a bicyclist at all.”
Investigators recovered a deleted text from Miller’s cell phone that was sent about three minutes before she made a 911 call to report the crash. Miller denied being on the phone at the time of the crash, saying she had only sent a text before leaving from work, the complaint said.
Crash reconstruction experts determined Miller was traveling 55 mph and texting on her phone when she hit David.
A sentencing date has not been set.
