Marshella Chidester’s husband, Don Chidester, is a Newport, Michigan resident who stepped into his wife’s criminal case between her March 6, 2025 guilty verdict and her May 15, 2025 sentencing, arranging to replace her trial attorney with new counsel before the sentencing hearing. Marshella Chidester was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and seven related counts for driving her SUV into a children’s birthday party at the Swan Boat Club in Berlin Township, Monroe County, on April 20, 2024, killing eight-year-old Alanah Phillips and four-year-old Zayn Phillips and injuring 15 others.1Detroit Free Press. Swan Boat Club: Marshella Chidester Sentence
Who Don Chidester Is
Public reporting about Don Chidester is thin. A 2006 obituary for his father, Virgil Chidester Jr., identifies him as a Newport, Michigan resident.2Herman Funeral Home. Virgil Chidester Jr. Obituary3WXYZ. Driver in Deadly Swan Boat Club Crash Breaks Her Silence4Detroit News. Charges in Monroe County Berlin Township Crash at Swan Boat Club
Don’s name surfaced in trial testimony before it surfaced in courthouse paperwork. A witness, Kristen Sigler, told the jury that in the moments after the crash Marshella asked “where her husband, Don, was.”5Fox 2 Detroit. Swan Boat Club Crash Trial: Jury Selection Begins He was not charged with any offense connected to the crash and did not testify. His public role began after the verdict.
Replacing the Trial Attorney Before Sentencing
Marshella Chidester’s trial lawyer, Bill Colovos, had represented her through the four-day trial in Monroe County Circuit Court that ended with a guilty verdict on all nine counts after roughly 90 minutes of jury deliberation.1Detroit Free Press. Swan Boat Club: Marshella Chidester Sentence With sentencing pending, Colovos went to the Monroe County Jail to conduct a pre-sentencing investigation interview with his client. A jail employee told him that Marshella’s husband had directed staff that no one should speak with Colovos because a new attorney had been retained.6Fox 2 Detroit. Swan Boat Club Crash: Marshella Chidester Hires New Attorney Ahead of Sentencing
On a later visit, Colovos discovered that the replacement lawyer was already inside conducting the pre-sentence interview in his place.7CBS News Detroit. Swan Boat Club Crash Defendant Gets New Attorney The new attorney was James Warren Amberg of Amberg & Amberg. Judge Daniel White initially did not sign the substitution paperwork, and Colovos filed a motion to withdraw citing a “breakdown in communication with his client.” Judge White later signed the substitution order, and the withdrawal motion became moot.6Fox 2 Detroit. Swan Boat Club Crash: Marshella Chidester Hires New Attorney Ahead of Sentencing
Why the Timing Drew Attention
Colovos spoke publicly about the switch and called the timing “unusual.” He explained that a trial attorney normally stays on through sentencing, with new counsel typically stepping in afterward to handle any appeal rather than mid-way between verdict and sentence.6Fox 2 Detroit. Swan Boat Club Crash: Marshella Chidester Hires New Attorney Ahead of Sentencing Colovos had said on multiple occasions that he expected the conviction to be appealed.8CBS News Detroit. Sentencing: Marshella Chidester, Swan Boat Club, Monroe County
The reporting does not describe any statement from Don Chidester explaining the change, and it does not attribute the decision to Marshella independently of her husband; jail staff told Colovos the instruction came from her husband. Beyond that account, the file does not resolve the internal reasoning behind the switch.
What Happened at Sentencing With the New Attorney
James Amberg represented Marshella Chidester at the May 15, 2025 sentencing hearing. He asked Judge White for leniency, citing her poor health. Marshella addressed the courtroom directly and asked for forgiveness: “I’ve asked the Lord to forgive me, and I ask you to at least look into your heart and at some point if you can possibly forgive me, I would appreciate that so much.”9People. Drunk Driver Crashed Into Children’s Party Killing Siblings, Gets 25 to 50 Years
Judge White told the courtroom, “This might be the most tragic and most heartbreaking case this courtroom has ever seen,” and imposed 25 to 50 years in prison on each second-degree murder count, 7 to 15 years on each of the two operating-while-intoxicated-causing-death counts, and 2 to 5 years on each of the five operating-while-intoxicated-causing-serious-injury counts.1Detroit Free Press. Swan Boat Club: Marshella Chidester Sentence10Monroe News. Chidester Sentenced to Prison: What Happened and When
Brian Phillips, the father of Alanah and Zayn, delivered a victim impact statement and later visited his children’s gravesite. “Babies, we did it. It’s been a long, long fight. I feel like justice had been served for them,” he said. Of Chidester’s sentence, he added: “She don’t ever need to be out and she can see her family, right? She can visit her family. This is how I’m visiting them.”11WXYZ. Father of Swan Boat Club Crash Victims Finding Closure One Year Later
The Appeal Filed by the New Attorney
On June 8, 2025, Amberg filed a new appeal on Marshella Chidester’s behalf (Case No. 375955). Michigan Court of Appeals records show the case was remanded with the court retaining jurisdiction.12Michigan Courts. People of MI v. Marshella Marie Chidester, Case No. 375955 An earlier pre-trial interlocutory appeal filed by the defense had been denied by the Michigan Court of Appeals on February 14, 2025, with the court finding the defendant had failed “to persuade the Court of the need for immediate appellate review.”13Justia. People of MI v. Marshella Marie Chidester, No. 374201
Don Chidester has not been named in any charge or civil claim tied to the crash. His role in the record, as reported, is confined to arranging his wife’s change of counsel between verdict and sentencing and the appeal that followed.