A woman whose car collided with a motorcyclist last week, killing him, now is suspected of a homicide, authorities said Sunday.
After the head-on collision Thursday evening on Carson Road in Camino, Melissa Nicole Nichols, 23, was booked into El Dorado County Jail on Friday on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, authorities said.
California Highway Patrol investigators said Nichols and Anthony James Payne, 23, had been dating. A passerby saw them talking to each other on Carson Road, near East County Road, about 7:45 p.m. Thursday. Nichols was driving a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am, and Payne was on a Honda 1000 motorcycle.
After the conversation, they departed in different directions but, at some point, investigators say, Payne evidently turned his motorcycle and came back westbound toward Nichols. For some reason, her car drifted into that lane and crashed into the motorcycle head-on.
The impact threw Payne about 200 feet, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
"Investigators from the California Highway Patrol and our agency met for a long time Friday afternoon to discuss it," Sgt. Phil Chovanec, El Dorado County sheriff's spokesman, said Sunday.
Investigators also interviewed a passenger who was with Nichols and developed other evidence that they felt supported a manslaughter count, Chovanec said.
The sheriff's office is now the lead agency for the continuing investigation, but CHP investigators remain involved in the case, Chovanec said.
Nichols was transported to Sutter Roseville Medical Center with minor injuries after the wreck. On Friday, she was returned to Placerville and booked into jail on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and drunken driving resulting in bodily injury.
Call The Bee's David Richie, (916) 608-7455.
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