Murder charges reinstated in crash that killed troopers, man

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A judge has reinstated third-degree murder charges against a woman in a crash on a Philadelphia interstate that claimed the lives of two Pennsylvania troopers and a civilian earlier this year.

Common Pleas Court Judge Lillian Ransom’s decision Wednesday comes more than a month after a municipal court judge dismissed the charges against 22-year-old Jayana Tanae Webb of Eagleville, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Ransom cited previous witness testimony and tweets Webb is alleged to have sent that night along with video footage played in a previous hearing of the time-frame of the early morning crash on March 21 on Interstate 95.

Police said Troopers Martin Mack III and Branden Sisca were trying to get a man to safety after he was reported walking in the southbound lanes of I-95 near the sports stadiums in south Philadelphia. Police said a vehicle “traveling at a high rate of speed” struck all three, and all died at the scene. Mack enlisted in 2014 and Sisca did so last year. The other victim was identified as 28-year-old Reyes Rivera Oliveras of Allentown.

Defense attorney Michael Walker said he would seek reconsideration of the ruling, which he said had “deeply saddened" his client's family.

Webb is also charged with vehicular homicide, involuntary manslaughter and vehicular homicide while driving under the influence. The judge denied a motion by prosecutors to revoke bail for the defendant, which was set at $600,000 at a June hearing.