CULLMAN – A Dayton, Ohio man was extradited to Cullman on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017 to face six charges stemming from his alleged role in the deaths of Tonya Busbee, 34, and her daughter Rhianna Busbee, 13, both of Bremen. Jonathan Biggs, 53, is charged in connection with the head-on collision that killed the younger Busbee and her mother in March of this year.
The incident occurred on Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at approximately 8:24 p.m., near the 8000 block of County Road 813, near the entrance to Smith Lake Park. The Busbees were traveling south in a 2003 Ford Ranger pickup truck when Biggs, driving northbound in a 2016 Chevrolet Impala, allegedly crossed the center line and struck them head on. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene by Cullman County Coroner Jeremy L. Kilpatrick, while Biggs was airlifted to UAB Hospital in Birmingham.
The next day, on March 29, 2017, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said that both alcohol and speed appeared to be factors in the crash.
On Oct. 4, 2017 a Cullman County grand jury handed down a six-count indictment:
One count of reckless murder for each victim, charging that Biggs “did, recklessly engage in conduct which manifested extreme indifference to human life and created a grave risk of death to a person other than the said JONATHAN D. BIGGS, by, to-wit: operting a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, and did thereby cause the death of another person.” Reckless murder is a Class A felony.
Two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol. One count charged that his blood alcohol concentration was above the legal limit, while both charged that he was “incapable of safely driving.”
One count of reckless driving “in willful or wanton disregard for the rights or safety of persons or property or without due caution and circumspection and at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger or be likely to endanger any person or property.”
One count of failing to stay in his lane on the road
On Oct. 5, 2017, the day after the indictment, Circuit Judge Martha Williams determined that the defendant would require a $150,000 property bond. After the issuance of a warrant, Biggs was extradited from Ohio and was booked into the Cullman County Detention Center on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. As of Monday afternoon, Biggs was still incarcerated.
Biggs Indictment 1 by cullmansense on Scribd
Biggs Indictment 2 by cullmansense on Scribd
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