
A woman who had allegedly been drunk at the time of a crash on I-84 was charged in the deaths of two people killed in the accident, as well as that of her dog.
Michelle Miller, 29, of Wolcott, was charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs of alcohol, speeding, two counts of misconduct with a motor vehicle, first-degree reckless endangerment, cruelty to animals and risk of injury to a child. She turned herself in to West Hartford Police on a warrant for her arrest and bail was set at $75,000.
According to Miller’s arrest warrant, on Sept. 6, 2023, at about 8 p.m., Troop H received 911 calls about a crash on Interstate 84 involving multiple vehicles that closed eastbound traffic. The accident occurred near exit 44 in West Hartford.
According to crash reconstruction analysis, Miller was driving her red Volkswagen Jetta westbound on Interstate 84 when she abruptly steered to the left, lost control of the vehicle and slid into the median, went airborne and landed in the eastbound lane, where she collided with a silver Subaru Impreza and then a Kenworth tractor trailer truck.
Two people, the Impreza’s driver and passenger, a child in a child safety seat in the backseat, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Miller had minor injuries and was taken to Hartford Hospital for treatment. The tractor trailer driver refused medical attention.
According to the trooper who responded to the scene, a heavily damaged Volkswagen sedan rested on the right shoulder and grass ahead of a tractor trailer. He reportedly saw the driver and a child in the back, both lifeless. The driver of the tractor trailer was walking around the driver’s side of his vehicle, visibly shaken, according to the trooper. Miller stood near her vehicle, suffering from minor injuries and asking where her dog was. The trooper said he saw the dog, lying dead in the roadway near her vehicle.
According to the warrant, the tractor trailer operator told police he was driving in the middle lane near exit 44 of I 84 east when he “suddenly saw a bunch of smoke in front of him and then a red car flew up into the front of his tractor trailer combination.”
Miller, according to the warrant, told police that she was driving in the left lane, traveling at about 75 mph when a vehicle cut into her lane. Miller reportedly told police she then veered into the left shoulder and lost control of her vehicle. She told police she had had one alcoholic beverage before driving and had three or four hits of marijuana earlier in the day.
Witnesses offered a variety of accounts potentially suggesting another car may have veered in front of Miller, precipitating her crash, but police determined otherwise.
Police searched the westbound lanes for evidence of another car that might have hit Miller’s Jetta, including tire deflection marks, tire scrub marks, vehicle fragments or physical evidence of a crash and found none, according to the warrant. Miller’s Jetta was also examined for evidence of collision damage other than with the Subaru Impreza and tractor trailer and police found none. Police crash analysis determined that a fourth vehicle was not involved in the accident but that the cause of the accident was “operator induced due to an excessive left steering input.”
Due to Miller’s “excessive left steering,” the angle at which her rear tires turned in comparison to those on the front caused the vehicle to lose traction and slip counterclockwise.
As the car slid, the Jetta traveled across the left lane and the shoulder of I-84 west and into the grassy median. The car continued up the berm in the meridian and became airborne, police determined. Police believe the Jetta was, at that time, traveling between 55 and 73 mph.
Crash damage to the car and roadway scarring show that after landing on the left shoulder of I-84 east, the front end of the Jetta rebounded off the pavement, causing it to become elevated. That elevated front end and undercarriage collided with and pushed through the upper part of the Subaru Impreza along its left side, according to police. Both vehicles were extensively damaged. The Volkswagen had a detached engine and left front wheel and the Subaru Impreza had a severed roof and severed A, B and C pillars on the left side, the warrant said.
Toxicology reports show Miller’s blood alcohol level was .17% and that she was positive for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, according to the warrant.
Speed was also likely a factor in the “magnitude” of damage caused in the crash, the warrant said. The posted speed limit for the area is 50 mph and the Jetta was calculated to be traveling between 55 and 73 mph when it became airborne, after swerving counterclockwise across the left lane and shoulder of I-84 west into the median.
The Subaru Impreza was also speeding, between 74 and 81 mph, police said. That car’s speed and the resulting additional kinetic energy caused by it also contributed to the crash’s devastation, police said.
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