Iowa City vehicular homicide trial reset a fourth time

A Johnson County judge – for the fifth time – has set a new trial date for an Iowa City woman accused of hitting and killing her friend with a Dodge Ram truck last summer.

Miranda Lalla, 51, was supposed to be tried on vehicular homicide and drunken driving charges May 7 – the fourth trial date she's had since being arrested June 18. But, according to online court records, a judge found that, “for good cause shown,” her case should be continued again.

Lalla now is scheduled to be tried Aug. 20. She remains at the Johnson County Jail, where she has been held since her arrest – nearly a year ago – in lieu of a $100 bond.

Vehicular homicide, when associated with a drunken driving charge, is a class B felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison. Lalla previously was granted a later trial date because she retained a new attorney, according to court records.

She is accused of killing her friend, Pamela Gross, 44, of Iowa City, by running over her with a truck on June 17 in the parking lot at 315 First St. in Iowa City. Officers responded to the apartment complex parking lot about 7 p.m. and found Gross with fatal injuries.

She was rushed to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where she was pronounced dead, according to court documents.

Through their investigation, officers learned that Lalla and Gross had gotten into an argument that escalated into a physical fight, according to police records. When Lalla tried to leave in her truck, Gross stood next to the open driver's side door and was knocked down as Lalla reversed, police said.

Lalla, who initially was charged only with OWI, told police that she had been at the Jobsite bar in Iowa City that evening and drove a friend home, where they began to argue in the parking lot, according to police. Officers tested Lalla's blood-alcohol content level at the scene at .093, police reported.