Man indicted in crash that killed 4

Kim Smith

Friday, May 26, 2000 | 10:25 a.m.

The 24-year-old Las Vegas man accused of causing a collision that took the lives of four people coming home from a birthday party was indicted on 18 charges Thursday.

Michael Pickett was indicted on four counts each of driving under the influence, reckless driving, involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of the accident. He also faces charges of possession of narcotics paraphernalia and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said the grand jury returned the indictment after hearing four hours of testimony from 18 witnesses, including five people in the medical profession.

According to police, Pickett rear-ended a car occupied by Mary Lynn Sargent, 46, James Burton Hendren, 59, and Michelle Jamieson, 22, while they were stopped at a red light at Main Street and Washington Avenue on May 10.

Hendren and Sargent died at the scene. Jamieson, who was eight months pregnant, went into cardiac arrest and was revived, only to die after undergoing an emergency Caesarean section.

The baby, Julius, who sustained kidney and brain damage during his mother's cardiac arrest, died May 16.

Pickett, a father of two, had a blood alcohol content of 0.22 and traces of marijuana in his system shortly after the accident, Booker said.

He is being held on $4 million bail.

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