Driver guilty of murder in deaths of 5 Michigan bicyclists

KALAMAZOO, Mich. –  Jurors in Michigan are deliberating the case of a man charged with murder in the deaths of five bicyclists who were killed while riding on a rural road.

Charles Pickett didn't testify during the brief trial. There's no dispute that he used drugs before his pickup truck plowed into a pack of bicyclists in Kalamazoo County in 2016. Nine people were hit, including five who died from their injuries.

Assistant prosecutor Michael Kanaby told jurors Tuesday that Pickett didn't care about the possible consequences of driving after taking drugs. Pickett's lawyers say he didn't know the effects of the painkillers. They say second-degree murder charges are excessive.

The dead were three women and two men, ages 42 to 74.

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