SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. – A South Haven woman was arraigned Wednesday after a crash where her passenger 
drowned in December.
Tara Smith was charged with Operating While Intoxicated Causing Death for the crash on the night of Friday, December 22 in Bangor Township. Van Buren County deputies say that Smith had been traveling westbound on the dead end portion of 36th Avenue west of County Road 687 when she drove into School Section Lake. Smith was able to swim back to shore, but her passenger, Jezreel Wallace, 22, of Bangor, drowned. Deputies at the time believed that alcohol may have been a factor in the crash.
Bangor Twp. – School Section Lake.
Bond for Smith was set at $50,000. The charge of OWI Causing Death carries a potential 15-year prison sentence if convicted. Smith’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for early April.
