Police: Driver distracted in fatal DeWitt-area crash

WATERTOWN TWP. – Distracted driving led to a crash that killed a 35-year-old bicyclist earlier this month in Watertown Township, police said.

Mitzi Nelson, 23, who lives in the DeWitt area, faces a misdemeanor charge of committing a moving violation causing death or severe impairment, Clinton County Sheriff Wayne Kangas said.

The charge is punishable by up to a year in jail and a maximum fine of $2,000, he said.

Nelson's attorney, Mike Nichols, said he hadn't seen the police reports and declined to discuss details of the case. He said he still is investigating what might have led to the crash.

"We've got a 23-year-old kid here, and she feels just absolutely awful about what happened," Nichols said Friday. "I think she has a million emotions and thoughts in her head, and one of them is just a tremendous amount of sadness."

The fatal crash occurred Sept. 2 on West Howe Road, between Francis and South Forest Hill roads.

Jill Byelich, a mother of two who worked for the Michigan State Police, was riding her bike east when she was hit by an eastbound vehicle driven by Nelson, police said.

Neither speed nor alcohol were factors in the crash, and an investigation showed Nelson was distracted by a cell phone and that text messaging was involved, Kangas said.

Nelson acknowledged that "her phone lit up for a second, and sometimes, that's all it takes," he said.

"Everyone of us who drives out there can look at something and be distracted," he said. "It doesn't take a lot to be distracted. It's a tragedy for a lot of people here."

A pretrial hearing is set for Sept. 26 in Clinton County District Court.