PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – A woman arrested in connection with the death of a Delray Beach police officer who was vacationing in Key West has been released from a Miami-Dade County jail and is on her way back to the Florida Keys to face charges.
Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department spokesman Juan Diasgranados said Lacy Morris was picked up early Wednesday morning by Monroe County authorities.
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Morris, 32, of Sugarloaf Key, was arrested May 2 in Broward County. She faces DUI manslaughter and other charges in the death of Officer Christine Braswell.
Braswell, 40, and fellow Officer Bernenda Marc were on vacation together and riding a motor scooter April 8 when they were struck by a 2006 Nissan Altima driven by Morris.
According to a crash report, Morris was driving west on Truman Avenue when she turned into the path of Braswell and Marc, who were traveling east on a Yamaha Zuma.
Officer Jesse Young wrote in his report that Morris' eyes were "extremely red, glassy and bloodshot." Young wrote that he also smelled alcohol on her breath when she spoke.
Morris told Young that she was turning in to the parking lot of a nearby Dion's Quick Mart because she and a passenger wanted to get some fried chicken, the report said. Morris claimed that she thought the scooter was speeding but thought it had plenty of time to stop and that it wouldn't crash into her car, Young wrote.
During a search of the car, another officer found "a fresh but barely smoked marijuana cigarette" on the driver's side floorboard, the report said.
Braswell, who joined the Delray Beach Police Department in 2005, was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, where she died.
Marc was treated at Jackson South Community Hospital and released.
Police said toxicology reports showed that Morris had a blood-alcohol content of 0.17 percent. The state legal limit is 0.08 percent.
After her arrest, Morris was transferred to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade County.
Her attorney, Evan Hoffman, said his client was not going to run and was never a flight risk. He told the Palm Beach Post that he was critical of the way her arrest was handled, believing that an arrangement was in place to have her voluntarily surrender to authorities.
Instead, Hoffman said, Morris has been stuck in jail for more than a week.
"This is ridiculous," Hoffman said.