MARINETTE — A 25-year-old Marinette woman has been charged in connection to the death of a bicyclist last summer on the Interstate Bridge near the entrance to Stephenson Island.
Alexis N. Clark made her initial appearance Monday afternoon in Marinette County Circuit Court. She is accused of being responsible for the death of David J. Fournier, 48, Menominee, at approximately 2 a.m. July 15, 2023, when the bicycle he was riding was struck by a vehicle on the bridge. He died at the scene. The driver of the vehicle, allegedly Clark, fled the scene, but was located and has cooperated with police.
Clark, who appeared via video in Judge Jane Sequin’s Branch 1 courtroom, is charged with homicide by vehicle — use of controlled substance and hit-and-run — resulting in death. Both are Class D felonies and each carry a maximum penalty of $100,000 and/or 25 years in prison.
Bond was set at $2,500 with conditions, such as no consumption or possession of alcohol or controlled substances, no contact with the victim's family and no entry into any bars, taverns, liquor stores or dispensaries.
The next court date is 3:10 p.m. March 28 for a preliminary hearing and arraignment before Judge Nancy Kallgren.
It took about eight months for charges to be filed because the case was stalled at the State Crime Lab. Marinette County District Attorney DeShea Morrow and Marinette Police Chief Jon LaCombe both expressed frustration numerous times during the past several months.
“I don’t understand the backlog, but it’s out of our hands,” LaCombe told the EagleHerald in January. “She (Morrow) said she needs that lab result so here we sit.”
The Wisconsin State Crime Laboratories are a part of the Division of Forensic Sciences (DFS) within the Wisconsin Department of Justice, according to the DOJ website. There are full service labs in Madison and Milwaukee, and a limited service lab in Wausau.
According to most recent statistics on the DOJ website, the DFS received 46,000 items in 2019, which averages out to more than 180 items per day.
According to the criminal complaint, Clark drove her vehicle, a 2013 silver Hyundai Sonata, northeast onto the Interstate Bridge, when she hit something in the road. She told officers she thought she ran over a bag of garbage, the complaint states.
A witness who was a passenger in a vehicle “a little ways back” of Clark’s car told officers they stopped when he saw the male (Fournier) lying on the street, the complaint reads. He told police he recognized the victim from going into Lolli’s.
Officers found a large black piece of plastic with a Hyundai symbol on it. They then observed surveillance tape throughout the area and saw a vehicle matching that description leave the Lolli’s parking lot and head toward the bridge, according to the complaint. They were able to trace the registered vehicle to Clark’s home on Sandberg Road, just off of Highway 64 and short of County Trunk E.
Clark told officers she left work in Green Bay and arrived at Lolli’s after 11 p.m. She said while in Lolli’s she had a shot of tequila and three Angry Orchards (hard cider), the complaint states. She also told officers she had “a small bump of cocaine” that night.
She told officers she didn’t stop or report the accident because she thought her boyfriend would be mad, the complaint reads.
Clark said she was driving to Menominee to visit friends who were at the bar with her. When interviewed later that day, one of the friends told officer’s about a Snapchat she received from Clark that read, “I’m freking tf out. I think I hit someone,” according to the complaint.
Clark also told officers there was a taxi cab beside her going over the bridge, the complaint states. Officers interviewed the taxi driver, who told them he saw Fournier riding his bike as he was driving into Marinette to pick up a customer at Lolli’s. He said that Fournier, by the way he was riding his bike, appeared intoxicated, the complaint states. On the way back to Menominee is when he saw Fournier on the ground, the complaint reads.
The defense attorney is Scott L. Stebbins of Green Bay.
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