JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – A 44-year-old woman charged with DUI manslaughter in connection with a crash that killed a tourist from Wisconsin waived her first appearance in court on Saturday.
A judge set Deborah Brewer's bond at $415,009 today.
"The family is obviously devastated," said attorney Gene Nichols, who is representing 24-year-old Michael Gunderson's family. "They lost their son in an accident in which their son was walking down the sidewalk and his life was taken from him."
Jacksonville Beach police said Brewer was driving a Ford Expedition that jumped the curb of a parking lot on Fourth Avenue North and accelerated down the grass and sidewalk, striking Gunderson, who died at the scene.
According to the police report, Brewer had been drinking and got into a fight with someone in a cab prior to the accident.
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Traffic homicide investigators received the toxicology report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Thursday. The lab returned a blood alcohol content for Brewer of 0.165 and 0.167.
"To create that amount of damage that was created is just astronomical to me," said Emily Burton, Gunderson's friend who was out with him the night of the crash. "It's still hard to believe that you can do that kind of damage and be only double over what's legal to drive. That's definitely a lot though. I just feel like it was so much more excessive than it needed to be."
An arrest warrant was issued for Brewer Friday and she turned herself in about 2 p.m., Jacksonville Beach police said. She is charged with DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and three counts of DUI with property damage.
"It's definitely what we were hoping for," Burton said. "It definitely makes me feel like a slight bit of justice has been served. Nothing is obviously going to take away what happened or bring him back, but as long as we can get the most aggressive charges brought to her as possible, then I mean, in terms of the justice system, that's all that we can hope for."
Gunderson (pictured) was out with friends at the end of a week-long vacation and left Harmonious Monks just after midnight to get some sleep before driving back to Wisconsin on Sunday.
Police said Brewer had left a parking lot and accelerated at a high rate of speed down the grass and sidewalk, heading east on Fourth Avenue. After hitting Gunderson, the SUV hit a palm tree, a parked Honda Civic and then rear-ended a Jacksonville Transportation Authority trolley.
Gunderson's friends described the horror of seeing him hit.
"I saw his face smash the hood and he got drug under the car," Jeremy Anderson said. "After that I ran over there to the SUV. I saw this girl get out. She was terrified. She tried to resuscitate him. She was pulling his body."
One of Gunderson's friends said he was stunned by how fast the SUV driver was going.
Nichols added Gunderson's parents are focused on keeping their son's memory alive.
"Mr. And Mrs. Gunderson don't know what they are hoping for yet," Nichols said. "They are still grieving after the loss of their son, and they want him to be remembered. More than anything I am here to make sure he is remembered and that the court system remembers a life was taken in this case."
News4Jax found Brewer has been arrested at least twice, including a 2006 charge of battery in Jacksonville Beach and a DUI arrest in St. Johns County, also in 2006. She was given a speeding violation in February and had a psychiatric examination under the Baker Act in January 2014.