MICHIGAN : Driver Sentenced in Fatal Bridge Attack

A driver who attacked a woman over a fender-bender, forcing her to jump to her death off a Detroit bridge, was sentenced to 16 to 40 years in prison. Martell Welch Jr., 20, treated the victim, Deletha Word, “like a piece of garbage,” Judge Jeffrey Collins said. Welch was convicted of murder in the woman’s drowning last August. Witnesses said Welch flew into a rage after a minor accident, dragging her out of her car, ripping her clothes off and slamming her head against his car. Word, 33, climbed over the railing and jumped as he came after her with a tire jack. Initial police reports said spectators cheered during the attack, but police later denied that. The defense argued that Word used the hallucinogenic drug PCP and that her death was an accident or a suicide.