Jury Selection Set to Begin for Former Warren Officer in Fatal Crash Case

In 2024, former Warren police officer James Burke was arrested and charged with two counts of manslaughter, moving violation causing serious impairment of a body function, and willful neglect of duty following a crash that killed two people.

Jury selection for his trial was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.

The charges are allegations, and Burke is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Burke was allegedly driving his patrol car more than 90 mph on Schoenherr Road on Sept. 30, 2024, when he hit an SUV. The SUV was occupied by 34-year-old Cedric Hayden Jr. and 33-year-old DeJuan Pettis as they turned left on Prospect Avenue north of Eight Mile. His lights and siren were not activated at the time.

According to accident reconstruction testimony from Macomb County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Bosek, Burke had been driving faster than 110 mph seconds before the crash.

Video evidence showed the SUV turning onto the road at about 5 a.m. when Burke’s patrol car hit it.

At the time of the crash, Burke was allegedly chasing a driver who was more than a mile away. According to prior testimony, there was no evidence that the vehicle Burke claimed he was responding to was stolen. Burke claimed he was responding to an area on Schoenherr Road where license plate readers had picked up the plates of a stolen vehicle.

According to previous testimony in the case, Warren police will sometimes chase suspects without lights and sirens so suspects won’t know they are being chased.

Burke was fired from the Warren Police Department in December 2024.

In addition to this criminal case, attorneys for the Hayden and Pettis families have sued the city of Warren and the two police officers involved in the crash for $100 million.

The lawsuit, filed in Macomb County Circuit Court, alleges negligence, gross negligence, and willful and wanton misconduct by the two officers. It also accuses the officers and the city of negligent operation of a government-owned vehicle and raises ownership liability claims against the city.

What are the legal issues at play in this case?

Cases involving fatal police crashes can raise overlapping criminal, wrongful death, No-Fault and governmental immunity issues. In Michigan, families may face a different legal path when the at-fault driver is alleged to be a police officer in a government-owned vehicle. Key questions often include whether the officer was responding to a true emergency, whether lights and sirens were used, whether the officer’s driving was negligent or grossly negligent and whether an exception to governmental immunity applies.

Michigan law has a motor vehicle exception for bodily injury or property damage caused by negligent operation of a government-owned vehicle. That rule is found in MCL 691.1405.

Claims against individual government employees can involve a different analysis. Under MCL 691.1407, an individual officer may have immunity unless the officer’s conduct amounts to gross negligence and that gross negligence is the proximate cause of the injury or damage.

Another Michigan law, MCL 257.603, gives drivers of authorized emergency vehicles limited exemptions from certain traffic rules during emergency runs. Those exemptions can include exceeding speed limits, but they are not unlimited. Speed, lights and sirens, the reason for the response and danger to the public can all become important facts.

Michigan defines gross negligence as conduct so reckless it demonstrates a substantial lack of concern for whether someone is injured as a result.

Family members may sometimes bring wrongful death claims through the estate of the people who died against the police officer, the department or another responsible driver. Because governmental immunity is a major issue in these cases, families often must show that their claims fit within a recognized exception to immunity or that an individual officer’s conduct meets the gross negligence standard.

Get Help From Michigan Legal Center

Michigan Legal Center is the Law Offices of Christopher J. Trainor & Associates. Our attorneys help injured people and families across Michigan with car crashes, No-Fault claims, insurance disputes, serious injury claims, wrongful death cases and crashes involving government vehicles.

If you or a loved one was injured in a Michigan car crash, call Michigan Legal Center at (248) 886-8650 or contact us for a consultation.

There is no attorney fee unless money is recovered for you. Case costs and fee terms are governed by the written fee agreement.