photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Lasean Rochelle Dixon appears at a hearing on Feb. 13, 2025, in Douglas County District Court.

A prosecutor added new charges on Thursday against a woman accused of hitting a Lawrence pedestrian and killing a dog with her car on 23rd Street, and the woman’s attorney says she’s interested in pursuing a plea deal.

The woman, Lasean Rochelle Dixon, 36, of Overland Park, is now charged with aggravated battery, failure to stop at an accident causing harm and interference with law enforcement, all felonies. The aggravated battery and interference charges are the ones that were newly added, and aggravated battery is a higher-level felony than failure to stop at an accident causing harm.

The charges are in connection with an incident just before 8 a.m. on March 18, 2024, at the intersection of East 23rd Street and Barker Avenue. Dixon is accused of running a red light and striking a 74-year-old woman who was walking her dog. The woman suffered a broken leg, and the dog died at the scene, as the Journal-World reported. Dixon is also alleged to have lied to police multiple times during the investigation about her involvement in the crash, according to an affidavit in support of Dixon’s arrest.

Assistant District Attorney Adam Carey said he would be pursuing the new charges ahead of Dixon’s preliminary hearing on Thursday, at which he would have presented evidence and attempted to establish probable cause for Dixon to stand trial.

But Dixon’s attorney, Jessica Glendening, said that Dixon wished to waive her right to the hearing and enter into plea negotiations with the state to avoid a trial. She then asked Judge Amy Hanley to schedule Dixon’s next hearing at the end of April, since Dixon is about eight months pregnant.

Hanley then scheduled Dixon to next appear in court on April 25 for a plea hearing. Dixon is currently free on a $3,000 own-recognizance bond.