A Nome woman facing charges in a hit-and-run car collision that killed a Savoonga artist last year has had the manslaughter charge dropped—in a plea deal reached last week.
Adrienne Michels, 31, was initially accused of manslaughter in the death of 54-year-old Wagner “Repa” Wongittilin in April of last year.
According to court records Wongittilin was walking along Nome’s 5th Avenue and Bering Street with his son and nephew around 1 a.m. on April 12, 2014, just as Michels drove a Ford Explorer down Bering Street.
Wongittilin was hit, and a cab driver who witnessed the incident says he saw Wongittilin “jump in front of the SUV with both hands above his head”—telling officers it looked like he was trying to “warn” the driver of people “walking in the area.”
A police affidavit used in court says Michels initially left the scene of the collision but returned a short time later with her father. She failed several field sobriety tests and eventually was found to have a blood alcohol content of .227, more than two and a half times the legal limit.
Wongittilin was taken to the Nome hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries a short time later.
Michels faced not only a charge of manslaughter but also charges of driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident. A grand jury later handed down an additional charge of leaving the scene of an accident while failing to help the injured.
But the manslaughter charge was dropped in a hearing on June 3, after experts called by both the state and Michels’ own attorney re-created the accident and found the evidence, including the physics of a 40-foot skid mark at the scene, found she was driving under the speed limit and within her lane of traffic when the collision occurred.
“It was uncontested that the decedent, Wagner Wongittilin, jumped in front of the vehicle moments before impact,” said Nome assistant district attorney Tom Jamgochian. “Our own expert concluded a sober and alert driver could not have avoided the collision.”
Bethel attorney Myron Angstman, representing Michels, concurred, saying, “a sober person in this exact same accident would not have been able to do anything differently.”
In short, the attorneys said, the experts concluded that Michels’ sobriety at the time of the accident did not play a factor in how it occurred, and that’s why the charge was dropped.
“The state needs to prove that the driver caused the death of another person. Just being drunk is not legally sufficient to prove manslaughter,” Jamgochian said. “With out own expert ruling out manslaughter, we could not prove that charge at trial.”
With the most serious charge dropped, Michels pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of drunken driving and reckless endangerment, as well as one felony charge of attempting to leave the scene of an accident. That last charge includes an aggravator indicting it’s the most serious instance of leaving the scene possible.
Jamgochian said Wongtillin’s family agreed to move forward with the plea deal to ensure a felony conviction. “It’s not a perfect resolution,” Jamgochian said, “but considering the evidence that we had, it’s a good resolution.”
Remembered as a skilled ivory carver, a halibut fisherman, and volunteer firefighter in his home of Savoonga, Wongittilin’s family said in a written statement to KNOM Friday that “it was very well known that [Wagner] saw himself as the protector and provider of his family.” The family said they agreed to the reduced charges because they “put [their] faith in that the investigation and court process was thorough” and because it honored “Wagner’s first concern,” which was always with the family.
As part of her agreement to plead guilty, attorney Angstman said Michels will face a maximum sentence of two years in jail, and could face an additional five years if she re-offends any time during her decade-long probation. Out on $25,000 bail since May of last year, Michels remains in the custody of a third-party court-appointed custodian until she is formally sentenced, a court date now set for September 29.
