GRAND FORKS (trfnews.i234.me) – A devastating crash in Grand Forks, North Dakota has left a community reeling. Travis Dean Bell, 43, was charged with Class A felony criminal vehicular homicide and Class C felony criminal vehicular injury after allegedly driving under the influence and crashing into another vehicle.
The tragic incident occurred on June 3 at the intersection of Airport Drive and Highway 2. According to a declaration of probable cause filed in the case, Bell’s red Ford Focus struck a Ram 3500 occupied by him, causing serious injuries to the driver and killing her 6-year-old daughter.
Witnesses reported that the light was red when Bell approached the intersection, but he showed no indication of slowing down. When law enforcement arrived on scene, they detected a strong odor of alcohol emanating from Bell’s vehicle.
Bell agreed to field sobriety testing, which revealed few errors. However, an Alco-sensor test administered at approximately 8 p.m. yielded a result of .123%, followed by two chemical breath tests that showed readings of .130% and .128%. The legal limit is .08%.
The young girl was pronounced dead two days later, after Bell had already been charged with the Class C felony count. One count was amended to Class A felony criminal vehicular homicide following her death.
Bell waived his preliminary hearing on October 7 and pleaded not guilty to both charges. His final dispositional conference is scheduled for January 2 at 1:30 p.m. The community continues to mourn the loss of a young life, while Bell faces serious consequences for his alleged actions.