MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – A former Warren police officer was bound over to stand trial in connection with a crash that killed two men, a judge ruled Friday.
James Burke was charged with two felony counts of vehicular homicide-manslaughter, along with a pair of misdemeanor charges in connection with a high-speed crash that happened at around 5 a.m. on Sept. 30, 2024.
During his preliminary examination, dashcam video played in court showed Burke in his marked patrol Ford Explorer driving at speeds topping 115 mph when it crashed into a Dodge Durango as it was making a left turn from Schoenherr onto Prospect Avenue.
Related: Video shows Warren crash that left 2 men dead, injured police officers
The two people inside the Dodge Durango, 34-year-old Cedric Hayden Jr. and 33-year-old DeJuan Pettis, were killed in the crash. Family said the two men were lifelong best friends.
The police car didn’t have its emergency lights and sirens activated, and the officer was not involved in a chase at the time of the crash.
Hayden’s father, Calvin Hayden Sr., said seeing the video was like torture.
“It’s devastating. It’s hard. I mean, just keep seeing it over and over again,” Hayden Sr. told Local 4 in June. “That’s a very hard sight to keep looking at.”
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During the hearing, the prosecution’s issues were Burke’s speed and the lack of lights and sirens, while the defense attempted to blame the victims and brought in an expert who said the Durango made an illegal turn into the speeding patrol car.
“My son was just turning a corner going home like he normally does every day,” Hayden Sr. had said. “And this man, I’m quite sure, every day, he’s not doing 500 million miles an hour going down Schoenherr. But particularly, he’s done it in the past, and he’s doing it now. And he smacked my son.”