Bend woman pleads not guilty to manslaughter, DUII in Hwy. 26 crash that killed 3 Warm Springs residents

(Update: Not-guilty pleas entered; bail held at $1 million)

MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) – A 29-year-old Bend woman pleaded not guilty Monday to six counts of manslaughter and one of DUII, three days after her arrest in a November 2022 head-on crash on Highway 26 north of Madras that killed three Warm Springs residents – two teens and their aunt.

State Police said shortly after the crash that Audrey Cooper McHugh, 29, was passing several vehicles in the fog that evening when her pickup truck collided with an oncoming car driven by Saralee Spino-McCormick, 29, of Warm Springs, who was fatally injured, along with Jessica Johnson, 15, and her 13-year-old brother. All three were Warm Springs tribal members, OSP said.

McHugh also was seriously injured in the crash.

A Jefferson County grand jury indicted McHugh Thursday on three counts of first-degree manslaughter and three counts of second-degree manslaughter, Class A and B felonies, and a misdemeanor DUII count.

OSP troopers arrested her Friday at her Bend home and she was taken to the Jefferson County Jail in Madras, where was booked on $1 million bail.

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Annette Hillman kept her bail at $1 million and scheduled a March 29 pre-trial conference.