Trial set for November in Iowa City vehicular homicide case

An Iowa City woman who police say killed her friend by running over her with her Dodge Ram truck in June is now scheduled to be tried on a vehicular homicide charge on Nov. 6.

Miranda Lalla, 50, who is still being held in lieu of a $100,000 cash-only bond at the Johnson County Jail, was supposed to be tried this week, but she waived her right to a speedy trial last week during a pretrial conference.

Lalla was arrested on suspicion of operating while intoxicated June 17, but the Johnson County Attorney's Office upgraded the charge to vehicular homicide after further investigation into the incident that left Pamela Gross, 44, of Iowa City, with fatal injuries in the parking lot at 315 First St. in Iowa City.

Officers were called to the apartment complex just after 7 p.m. June 17 on a report of a motor vehicle accident. Upon arrival, they learned that Lalla and Gross had gotten into an argument. The altercation had started as a physical fight, and when Lalla tried to leave in her truck, Gross stood next to the the driver's side door and was knocked down because the door was open as Lalla reversed, according to police.

Gross was rushed to the University of Iowa Hospitals Clinics, where she was pronounced dead, according to a search warrant affidavit.

While talking with police after the incident,

Lalla said she had been at the Jobsite bar in Iowa City that evening and drove a friend home, where they began to fight in the parking lot. Officers tested Lalla's blood-alcohol content level at the scene at 0.093, but she later refused chemical testing, according to police.