Vehicular homicide charge for Iowa City woman in death of friend

IOWA CITY - A 50-year-old Iowa City woman faces a charge of vehicular homicide after police said she hit and killed her friend with a truck.

Miranda Lalla, who remains in the Johnson County Jail, was arrested June 17 on suspicion of operating while intoxicated. Iowa City police had been called to 315 E. First St. that night for a report of a motor vehicle accident with injuries. When officers arrived at 7:18 p.m., they learned that Lalla and Pamela Gross, 44, of Iowa City, had been involved in a physical altercation.

After the physical portion of the fight, Lalla is accused of getting into her Dodge Ram pickup to leave, according to police. Her driver's side door was open, and Gross was standing next to the truck between the passenger compartment and the door when Lalla started reversing, police said. Gross was knocked to the ground and run over, causing her death, police reported.

Lalla told investigators that she had been at the Jobsite bar in Iowa City having “a few beers that evening,” according to a criminal complaint. She said she drove a friend home, and they began to fight in the parking lot, the complaint said.

Lalla showed measurable impairment when performing standardized field sobriety tests after the accident, and officers tested her blood alcohol content level at the scene at 0.093 percent. The legal limit to drive in Iowa is 0.08 percent.

She later refused chemical testing, according to police, but investigators obtained a search warrant for a blood test. Toxicology results are pending.

A police news release on Wednesday reported that the Johnson County Attorney's Office, after further consideration, has upgraded the charge against Lalla to vehicular homicide, a Class B felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison.