A Tulsa man faces a first-degree manslaughter charge in the death of a 63-year-old woman he is accused of hitting with his car while drunk last week.
The Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office filed the charge against Alexis Lau, 61, on Friday in connection with the fatal crash near 61st Street and Peoria Avenue on Nov. 8.
A Tulsa police spokeswoman identified the woman Monday as Cathey Michelle Solomon, also known as Cathey Kenebrew.
Lau is also charged with leaving the scene of a fatal collision and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Officers initially arrested Lau on a negligent homicide complaint, but prosecutors instead opted to file the charge of manslaughter, a felony.
An arrest report states that officers were sitting in a parking lot around 4:10 a.m. Nov. 8 when they heard a “loud impact” and saw an SUV with “heavy front end damage” traveling south. One of the officers pulled Lau and the SUV over a couple of blocks south of the collision site, and police allege that Lau told the officer in slurred speech that he had just left a bar.
Lau, according to the report, said he was en route to a hotel on 71st Street at the time. He reportedly told an investigator that he might have seen “a man in the street that he hit” but wasn’t sure and said, “I don’t know, I’m messed up” when asked why he didn’t immediately stop.
