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A Michigan woman who was being persecuted after a college student was killed during a hit-and-run on New Year’s Eve has fled to Thailand to avoid prosecution.
Federal authorities allege that Tubtim ‘Sue’ Howson, a mother of two, fled to her home country just days after the fatal crash to avoid prosecution in the death of 22-year-old Ben Kable.
Travel records show Howson, who is originally from Thailand but is a US citizen, bought a one-way ticket from Detroit Metropolitan Airport to the Asian country with a layover in Dallas-Fort Worth.
He allegedly left for the country just two days after buying the ticket, landing on January 5.
A felony warrant had already been issued for Howson’s alleged failure to stop at the scene, resulting in serious impairment or death, but the FBI now says there is probable cause to charge her with a felony. interstate flight to avoid prosecution as well.
Ben Kable, 22, died while walking home from a New Year’s party on January 1 in Oakland County, Michigan.
Authorities say the driver was Tubtim Howson, who has since fled to Thailand to avoid prosecution.
Oakland County authorities have said Kable, a Michigan State University senior, was walking home from a New Year’s party on January 1 around 6 a.m.
Later, his father explained to the Detroit News that Kable was thrown out of an Uber for unknown reasons on Rochester Road, where he was struck.
“When she kicked him out, she was on Rochester Road, a very bad place,” Michael Kable said. ‘There are no streetlights, no sidewalk, you know, very little of any shoulder.
“In fact, he texted his friends that she was kicking him out, ‘Looks like I’m walking out of here.'”
Witnesses at the scene said he stopped for a short time before fleeing the scene.
Sheriff’s deputies were later able to determine that the vehicle, fragments of which were scattered around the scene, was registered to Howson, who they say was traveling to Birmingham for work at the time.
A recently unsealed FBI complaint says Howson “allegedly told a close associate after the accident that he thought he had killed someone and was going back to Thailand.”
When encouraged to turn himself in to the police, Howson reportedly said, “no cops, no cops.”
It is unclear if the federal government will seek extradition, but Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard called for an extradition “so that we can hold her accountable for her actions related to the tragic death of this young man.”
A newly unsealed complaint says Howson (pictured in 2011) told a friend she thought she had killed someone and was going back to Thailand.
Ben’s father, Michael, called the news “disappointing” as he continues to wait for justice for his son’s death.
Ben, left, was the youngest of six children. He was a senior at the University of Michigan studying electrical engineering.
After the news, Michael said that he doesn’t “understand how you can live with yourself.”
“Just the lack of empathy and humanity that it would take, and then planning your escape,” he said. FOX 2. ‘All we can do is cross our fingers that justice is done.
He told the Detroit News that, ‘At this point, it’s probably in the hands of federal authorities, mainly.
“It’s hard to understand how anyone can leave someone dying on the road,” the grieving father continued. ‘There’s just no empathy… I don’t get it.’
Ben was the youngest of six children, and Michael said they have all had trouble accepting what happened.
TO GoFundMe it has since been established to help the family seek justice.
A GoFundMe set up for the Kable family says Ben loved to hunt and go fishing
Michael said the family has had a hard time coming to terms with Ben’s death.
He was described as a good friend who loved spending time with friends and family.
It describes Ben as a senior in college who was studying electrical engineering.
“Benjamin loved to hunt, fish, play video games, and spend time with his friends and family,” he says. “He was a kind soul that you could always rely on and was always there if you needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to.”
‘If you ever needed a good laugh, Benjamin was the person to turn to.’
The online fundraiser has raised over $9,000 for the family since Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, when asked for comment by FOX 2, Howson’s husband Steven said “it wasn’t my fault, I wasn’t even in the country.”
He added: “Two families have lost someone here.”