Oklahoma woman pleads guilty in hit-and-run that killed Chinese national
MIAMI, Okla. — A Fairland woman accused of killing a Chinese national by driving over him was ordered to return to court in August for a sentencing hearing.
Mindy Diane McBrien, 50, entered a blind plea and pleaded no contest in Ottawa County District Court in Miami to first-degree manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crash.
Associate Judge Matt Whalen found McBrien guilty in the death of Guang Xin Ye, 58, who was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Miami on Feb. 5, 2022.
The manner of Ye’s death is listed as an accident, the autopsy report shows.
According to an Elks Lodge surveillance video on the night of Ye’s death, McBrien is seen walking into the Elks Lodge parking lot, getting into her Jeep Cherokee, and driving onto Main Street. Surveillance videos from surrounding businesses show Ye’s scooter headlight disappearing under McBrien’s vehicle. Showers of sparks are seen coming from the bottom of McBrien’s Jeep, and moments later, first responders arrived and rendered aid to Ye, the video shows.
A witness told Ottawa County deputies he found McBrien’s vehicle in a ditch later that evening and told law enforcement officers McBrien “was not so drunk that she didn’t know where she was going, but she was pretty drunk,” according to an arrest affidavit.
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Winston Connor, II, McBrien’s attorney and prosecutor Rowdy Yates told Whalen there was no plea agreement in place. A blind plea essentially means there is no plea agreement on the table and McBrien is throwing herself at the mercy of the court.
Connor said McBrien was pleading no contest rather than guilty because “she had no recollection of that evening and didn’t want to perjure herself.”
Autopsy shows Miami hit-and-run victim had over 50 fractures, contusions and lacerations
Ye died from multiple blunt force injuries to his head and chest. He had 12 broken ribs, and three spinal cord fractures, according to an autopsy report.
Whalen ordered McBrien to have a presentence investigation report completed and for her to return to court on Aug. 12 for her sentencing hearing.
She is free on $150,000 bail.
