East Hartford Woman Responsible For Fatal Rocky Hill Crash: Police

EAST HARTFORD/ROCKY HILL, CT — A 19-year-old East Hartford woman has been charged in connection with a violent, three-car crash in Rocky Hill last year that claimed the life of an East Hartford man.

Connecticut State Police said Wednesday that Mackenzie Simpson, 19, of East Hartford, turned herself in to Troop H in Hartford on Tuesday after a warrant was sought for her arrest.

She has been charged with second-degree manslaughter and was taken into custody without incident.

Simpson is released on a $100,000 bond and will appear in New Britain Superior Court on June 6, police said.

The accident, which occurred on March 30, 2024, on Interstate 91 in Rocky Hill, claimed the life of D'andre Miquel Charles, 25, of Lafayette Avenue, East Hartford.

Charles was driving a 2018 Acura TLX that was struck by another vehicle as part of a three-vehicle collision.

His vehicle then slammed into two guardrails and ended up rolling over repeatedly on I-91 South at about 11:48 p.m. that Saturday, police said.

According to the accident report, another 2018 Acura TLX, being driven by Simpson, was traveling behind another vehicle in the center lane of three on I-91.

Simpson's Acura then slammed into the rear of a 2024 Volvo 999 being driven by a 37-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., man traveling in the center lane.

According to the accident report, this collision made the Acura collide with the Acura being driven by Charles, sending Charles' Acura into the right shoulder.

That's where Charles' vehicle slammed into a metal beam guardrail on the right shoulder, veered across the highway, and then slammed into the left shoulder guardrail, police said.

According to the accident report, Charles' Acura then entered the grassy center median of the highway, where it began to roll over, ending up in an "uncontrolled final rest" in the median.

Police said Charles was pronounced dead at the scene.

For more information on the case, click on this link.

From March 31, 2024: 'Man, 25, Dead In Violent Rollover On I-91 In Rocky Hill: Police'