Driver on Heroin Charged With Manslaughter Following Fatal Crash in St. Peters

A St. Peters woman involved in a fatal car crash last month is now facing additional charges. 

After initially being charged with possession of a controlled substance and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia, Christine Marie Brown, 42, of the first block of Debbie Drive in St. Peters, was given additional charges. According to a report on KMOV.com, Brown was charged with two counts of first-degree manslaughter after an April 13 crash killed two elderly people. 

In the April 13 crash, St. Peters Police said Brown’s car crossed the center lane of traffic on Willott Road near Crescent Hill Drive and struck another car head on, killing two people in an oncoming car.

Ruth Thimmig, a 91-year-old St. Peters resident, died at the scene and Donald Gemienhart, 90, of St. Charles, died from injuries sustained in the crash three days later. 

A paramedic responding to the accident told police she found a syringe inside Brown’s bra while treating her wounds. An officer then searched Brown’s car and found five capsules that contained heroin, police said.

According to court documents, Brown told police she had used the syringe to inject heroin into her arm. She told police she had just driven to St. Louis to buy heroin.