Tensions rise in court as dashcam video shows Warren police 115 mph crash that killed 2

WARREN, Mich. – The preliminary hearing for former Warren police officer James Burke convened for its third day on Wednesday, June 25.

Burke has been charged with two felony counts of vehicular homicide-manslaughter along with a pair of misdemeanor charges in connection with a high-speed crash that occurred just before 5 a.m. on Sept. 30, 2024.

Related: Victims’ families demand ‘more serious’ charges against officer involved in Warren deadly crash

This was thought to be the final day of the preliminary hearing, but it will continue.

The introduction of the dashcam video of the accident added to an already emotional courtroom on Wednesday.

Dashcam video, released on Monday by Fieger Law, shows Burke in his police-issued Ford Explorer driving at speeds topping 115 mph when it smashed into a white Dodge Durango as it was making a left turn from Schoenherr onto Prospect Avenue. The brutal impact killed two men inside: 34-year-old Cedric Hayden Jr. and 33-year-old DeJuan Pettis.

The video was shown during the hearing by prosecutors, eliciting audible gasps and tears from family members in the gallery.

Hayden’s father, Calvin Hayden Sr., said seeing the video is like torture.

“It’s devastating. It’s hard. I mean, just keep seeing it over and over again,” Hayden Sr. said. “That’s a very hard sight to keep looking at.”

The Explorer did not have its emergency lights and sirens, nor was the officer involved in a chase at the time of the crash.

For the prosecution, the issues were Burke’s speed and the lack of lights and sirens.

The defense, meanwhile, attempted to blame the victims for the crash, bringing in an expert to say the Durango made an illegal turn into the speeding Explorer.

“My son was just turning a corner going home like he normally does every day,” Hayden Sr. said. “And this man, I’m quite sure every day, he’s not doing 500 million miles an hour going down Schoenherr. But particularly he’s done it in the past, and he’s doing it now. And he smacked my son.”

Along with the criminal case, the Pettis and Hayden families have also filed a civil suit that’s being handled by Fieger Law.

The defense, at what seemed like the last minute, asked to introduce two new witnesses, which did not sit well with the victims’ families.

As a result, the preliminary hearing will resume on July 30. Burke remains free on bond.