Kodi Rae Crane is pictured at a preliminary hearing on Jan. 17, 2023. Crane is charged with 2nd-degree murder in connection with a car crash that killed 50-year-old Rachel Snow, of Lawrence.

A Lawrence woman was ordered to stand trial on Friday in Douglas County District Court for second-degree murder in connection with a crash that killed a 50-year-old woman.

The defendant, Kodi Rae Crane, 40, is charged with one felony count of second-degree murder or in the alternative felony involuntary manslaughter, according to charging documents.

The charges relate to a car crash on Aug. 4, 2021, around 8:30 a.m. at the intersection of 15th Street and Haskell Avenue. Rachel Snow, 50, was either riding or pushing a bike when she was struck by a vehicle that was eastbound on 15th Street. Snow was pronounced dead at the scene, police said at the time.

During Crane’s preliminary hearing on Jan. 17, Senior Assistant District Attorney David Greenwald argued that Crane had run the stop sign at the intersection and had hit Snow. The vehicle had jumped a curb prior to running the stop sign.

An officer with the crash investigation team testified that he found tire marks on a curb and debris from Crane’s vehicle that was consistent with having jumped the curb in the block leading up to the intersection.

Another officer said that Crane seemed shaken up at the scene of the crash, but he did not think she was intoxicated and he let her go home; however, Greenwald said that when Crane received a blood test later that day, it showed barbiturates in her system.

Judge Amy Hanley said at the January hearing that if this was a traffic violation or DUI case, then it would not be charged as a murder. Greenwald said that by having jumped the curb prior to hitting Snow, a reasonable person would have realized she was driving recklessly and would have slowed down, but Crane did not and she ran the stop sign, striking Snow. He said that elevated the charge from a traffic infraction. Hanley said she would take the argument under advisement.

At Friday’s hearing, Hanley said she had reviewed case law sent by both defense attorney John Kerns and the prosecutor, Greenwald, and that she did some research of her own. She said that after her review she did find probable cause to bind Crane over on the murder charge and the alternative involuntary manslaughter charge.

Hanley then set a trial date of July 17 for Crane. Crane is currently out of custody on a $50,000 bond. Crane was first charged in April of 2022.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the age of Crane. She is 40.