(Spirit Lake)– A Dickinson county grand jury has wrapped up its deliberations into a fatal boat crash on West Lake Okoboji.
Dickinson County Attorney Rosalise Olson tells KUOO news the grand jury found that no indictments should be handed down in the case. She wouldn’t comment on what factors the grand jury based that decision on, saying grand jury deliberations are a closed process.
While no indictments will be handed down as a result of the crash that killed six-year-old Kathryn Mills of Johnston and injured ten others, Olson says the driver of one of the boats will be charged with two misdemeanor violations. She says 60-year-old Merlyn DeBoer of Spirit Lake will be charged with a speed and distance violation, which carries a 20-dollar fine; and careless operation of a boat, a 25-dollar fine.
DeBoer’s attorney, James Clarity, says they were pleased with the grand jury’s determination, saying it was “an accident, plain and simple” and that there was no evidence to support a criminal charge.
The August 2nd crash happened around 10:30 a.m. just off shore from Manhattan Beach. It was the first boating-related fatality in the Iowa Great Lakes in 14 years.
