Death by Cop 2022-2024
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Elizabeth Jeannine Messner
Gender : Female
Age : 62
Race : White
Date : 02/17/2022
Location : Key Bank, 1400 block of Michigan Avenue
City : Ypsilanti
County : Washtenaw
State : Michigan
Agency : Washtenaw County SO
Officer(s) :Not Disclosed
Cause of Death : Vehicle
Event : Bystander killed in police chase crash
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
Washtenaw County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to East Michigan Avenue just east of Harris Road in Ypsilanti Township for a crash and a “police situation” involving a 37-year-old Detroit man and the Ypsilanti Police Department. Police did not reveal any additional information about what the “police situation” entailed but the man fled police and was chased into the path of a bystander vehicle. Elizabeth Messner was found dead in the bystander vehicle. An eyewitness took their testimony to city council and referred to the incident as a “high-speed chase” involving the Ypsilanti Police Department. Police only shared a preliminary report with city leaders, according to two Ypsilanti City Council members, Steve Wilcoxen and Annie Somerville, who both declined to discuss its contents on-the-record since it was marked “confidential.”
