Lansing woman faces felony charges in weekend crash involving pedestrians

LANSING – A 22-year-old woman faces three felony charges in connection with an incident in which two pedestrians were hit by a car Sunday morning in southwest Lansing.

Cerise Ani Coats-Merchant, of Lansing, is charged with driving while intoxicated causing serious injury and two counts of felonious assault, court records show.

She is free on a personal bond pending an Aug. 20 hearing.

The incident happened about 3:40 a.m. Sunday near the intersection of Starlight Lane and South Waverly Road, Lansing police said.

A 21-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after being hit by a vehicle.

Police believe gunshots were fired in the area after the pedestrians were struck, and the vehicle that hit them had fresh bullet damage, Lansing Police Public Information Director Robert Merritt said. But people at the scene did not want to talk about the shooting, he said.

Court records did not list an attorney for Coats-Merchant.

Contact Ken Palmer at (517) 377-1032 or kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.