Boyfriend Charged in Horse Trainer’s Death After DUI Crash in Crete

25 year old and mother of one, Michelle Eustis, died of head injuries and trauma after her boyfriend allegedly struck the horse she and a friend were riding with his truck.

Eustis, her friend Heather France, and a few others were socializing in a Balmoral Park barn in Crete when the two girls decided to take Rendezvous, a horse trained by Eustis’ father, out for a ride bareback late that night. When the women didn’t return after a half hour, Eustis’ boyfriend, Angus Lake, jumped into his Dodge Ram and went looking for them.

An accident reconstruction determined Lake came up on the women too fast and tried to brake, sending his truck into a slide and striking the horse. Lake admitted to having as many as six shots before getting into his vehicle. His blood alcohol level was 0.147, nearly twice the legal limit. France suffered a broken leg and shoulder and may have been left partially paralyzed by the accident.

The Eustis family had just moved to Crete two years prior. Michelle and her six year old daughter Haylee lived with her parents. Eustis had just started dating Lake, a longtime family friend about a month before the accident.

Lake is charged with four felony counts of driving under the influence.

Boyfriend charged with DUI in horse trainer’s Balmoral Park death, www.chicagobreakingnews.com, April 12, 2011