A fight in a car which escalated out of control, allege authorities.
By Dileep Thekkethil
The driver at the wheel of the SUV that plunged 200 feet into the ocean from a cliff in Maui, Hawaii, has been charged with second-degree murder after the accident killed her twin sister.
Hawaiinewsnow.com reported that Alexandria Duval, 37 made her first arraignment in the Wailuku District Court on Monday and entered a not guilty plea.
According to local media, the twins were the owners of an infamous yoga studio in Florida, which was closed in 2014.
Police were quoted by the media saying that Alexandria Dawdo was in the driving seat of the Ford Explorer that plunged into the sea while it was passing through a Hana Highway rock wall. Her twin sister Anastasia Duval was killed in the crash.
Defense attorney Todd Eddins was quoted as saying, “This case involves a devastating, heart-shattering tragedy for Alison and her family. Her sister is dead as a result of the events surrounding this charge.”
According to a few eyewitnesses, the two women indulged in a fist fight inside the moving car and some reportedly saw one of them pulling the hair of the other. While they continued their fight inside the car, it accelerated and fell off the cliff. The court document also says that the driver didn’t even make an attempt to apply brakes on the car.
Even though the police and the prosecutor didn’t reveal much about the reason why they believe the accident was intentional, they did point out that Duval was arrested while she was attempting to flee the country.
“The fear we have is that she could easily go to a country where we don’t have an extradition treaty. She has already changed her identity once, so she could change her identity again and we wouldn’t be able to locate her,” said deputy prosecuting attorney Emlyn Higa.
But the defense attorney challenged the prosecutor saying that Duval was trying to head to New York to attend the funeral of her sister and had no intention of leaving the country.
The twin sisters opened the yoga studio Twin Power Yoga in Florida but it was shut down in 2014. The sisters later claimed bankruptcy, citing hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. The sisters also reportedly have arrests relating to public intoxication.
“It seemed like a downward spiral of events that didn’t make any sense. They have a lot of people that love them,” said Dalia Soles, the former manager of the Twin Power Yoga studios in Florida. “They were really fun. They have a lot of energy, bubbly, really personable.”
A judge denied a request for bail. Duval is due back in court on June 8.