A Connecticut woman is facing serious charges after police say she got behind the wheel while intoxicated and crashed into a motorcycle, killing both riders instantly.
Melissa Ramirez, 27, has been charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle following the deaths of 38-year-old Bridgeport Police Officer Cooper Whiteside and 34-year-old Brittany Anne Islami. She also faces charges of operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol, driving at an unreasonable speed, and failing to maintain her lane, according to the Danbury Police Department.
Ramirez is currently held on a $500,000 bond.
The crash happened in the early hours of July 13 on Sugar Hollow Road in Danbury, a city roughly 65 miles north of New York City. Whiteside, who was off duty at the time, was riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle with Islami around 2:45 a.m. when Ramirez’s Jeep allegedly slammed into them. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police say Ramirez’s vehicle sustained heavy front-end damage in the collision. She had to be pulled from the Jeep and was taken to a hospital with serious injuries of her own.
Islami leaves behind three young children, ages 12, 10, and 7. Those who knew her described her as someone who brought energy into every room she entered, remembered by loved ones as warm, lively, and deeply loving toward her kids.
Whiteside had wanted to become a police officer since he was young, and had spent the past two years serving on the Bridgeport force. Beyond his badge, he was known as a talented musician who played both violin and piano, an avid outdoorsman, a certified rescue diver, and someone friends often turned to for both help and humor.
The investigation into the crash is ongoing, and further charges against Ramirez have not been ruled out as authorities continue reviewing evidence from the scene.