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Suspected drunk driver kills 65-year-old man in Warren crash

By Josh Landon
Published  April 13, 2016 9:42pm EDT
News
FOX 2 Detroit

WARREN, Mich. (WJBK) - A 25-year-old woman allegedly drunk behind the wheel slammed into the back of another car.

The collision set the second car on fire and killed in the crash was 65-year-old Haleem Fareed Goode.

"I miss him," said Delores Goode, his wife. "It's just too soon. (There) was just so much we were looking forward to. We've got a new grandchild coming."

Delores Goode is not in the best of health and is now grieving the sudden death of her husband, Haleem.

"He was a good man, a good father, a good husband," said Delores Goode. "He took care of me."

Goode's Lincoln was rear-ended while he was waiting at the traffic light near Eight Mile and Ryan at 1:30 Wednesday morning. The husband, father and grandfather was on his way to pick up his wife from dialysis.

Police say the 25-year-old female in the Pontiac Grand Am had been drinking and speeding.

"He's gone," said Gabriel Goode, Haleem's son.  "He's been taking care of my mom. My mom has been in bad condition for so long. He had been doing everything he could possibly do to keep her comfortable. She was his number one priority."

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts said that the female driver smelled of intoxicants.

"I believe they found a bottle of, it might have been wine, in her car," Fouts said. "And so she's under custody right now."

The impact was so hard; Goode's car caught fire upon impact.

Investigators believe the accused drunk driver had been to several bars before the crash.

"Someone (placed) a 911 call saying there was a lady driving sporadically, that was intoxicated and (I'm) pretty sure that's the same lady that killed my father," said Gabriel Goode.

The driver is being treated at a hospital, and Delores Goode says this is a hard reminder to never drink and drive.

"I know you didn't mean to do it, but it's done and I'm hurting inside," she said. "I'm constantly asking where is he at. Because he was always with me. Always."

Fouts said the suspect's car also had a data recorder that could determine how fast she was driving before the crash. If the driver is found guilty of drinking and driving causing death, the mayor wants her to get the maximum penalty.