Manslaughter charge filed in fatal crash north of Tucson

Cassandra Lee, 35, of Green Valley, was arrested in suspicion of manslaughter following the Oct. 4 crash on northbound Arizona 77 at Eagle Crest Drive near the town of Catalina, about 20 miles north of Tucson.

Lee is being held at the Pima County jail on a bond of $100,000. 

Lee was driving a Nissan SUV north on Arizona 77, commonly known as North Oracle Road, just before 8:30 a.m. when she ran the red light and hit a Pontiac being driven by  74-year-old Sandra Mader, who was turning left, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said.

Mader died in the crash. A third vehicle was also involved in the wreck, but no one else was injured, the DPS said.

Lee told investigators she was texting on her phone and did not know whether the light she went through was green or red, an interim complaint filed in Pima County Justice Court says. She went on to say she was also distracted while placing her drink in the cupholder, causing her to look away from the road, when she crashed, the complaint says.