Alleged Drunk Driver Faces Murder Charge
A two-time convicted drunk driver faces a murder charge for a crash that killed a teacher when his pickup truck plowed through the front doors of a preschool.
Novis Lackey, 63, had been at two bars before driving into the Shasta County Head Start building in May, prosecutors said Tuesday during a preliminary hearing. Nicole Burns, 24, was killed when she was pinned against a wall.
Lackey can be tried on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and drunken driving, Judge James Ruggiero ruled in Shasta County Superior Court.
Lackey had a blood-alcohol level of 0.13 about an hour after the wreck, his attorney said.
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