Although the suspect was allegedly under the influence of a party drug known as “pink cocaine,” the Instagram model who was arrested as the speeding driver behind the wheel of a Mercedes that ran a red light, crashed into another car, killed two men, and injured one man’s fiancée while they were on their way to work now faces even more serious charges in the case and was taken back to jail.
Maecee Lathers, a 24-year-old New Yorker who describes herself as a social media model, recently served time under house arrest with GPS monitoring. However, according to local NBC affiliate WTVJ, she was arrested once more after being charged with DUI manslaughter in connection with the deaths of Abraham Molina and his friend Jesus Rubio on August 10.
Reports from toxicology purportedly verified Lathers’ drug use, which led to the charges.
Lathers first posted bail after entering a not guilty plea to charges of vehicular homicide, reckless driving, driving with a suspended licence, and fleeing the scene of an accident involving three vehicles—her Mercedes, a Range Rover, and the Suzuki that Moline, Hernandez, and Rubio were driving—as reported by Law&Crime.
Lathers was reportedly vomiting when police came on the scene to take her into custody. She also reportedly claimed to be “from the future and had a crystal ball,” as well as to have been high on “tusi,” or “2C,” a party drug based on ketamine that is also known as “pink cocaine.”
Moments before the tragedy, Lathers is said to have been driving without a valid licence at 57 mph. She then allegedly cranked the ‘accelerator at 100%’, increasing her speed to 78 mph and triggering the fatal collision.
The two men in the Suzuki did not survive, but the man operating the Range Rover, who was 24 years old, did. Molina’s fiancée Juanita Hernandez was the only one to survive with injuries. Hernandez stated that she was in the front passenger seat and that everyone was en route to work on a GoFundMe page following the collision.
“Abraham’s son, just 16 years old, has been left without the love and care of his father, who was his whole world. Due to my injuries, I am unable to work at the moment, and the young man’s life has changed radically. His mother, who lives in Nicaragua and suffers from Parkinson’s, is also now grieving, helpless and without the financial support her son provided,” Hernandez wrote.
The pretrial detention hearing in Lathers’ case is set for September 16 at 9:15 a.m., according to court documents that Law&Crime examined.
If found guilty, DUI manslaughter charges carry a minimum four-year jail sentence and a maximum three-decade prison sentence.
