A 24-year-old man who was in Cochise County last summer working on the border wall will stand trial later this year for manslaughter and negligent homicide stemming from a head-on collision that occurred when he tried to pass another vehicle in a no-passing zone.
Adam Shane Brown was indicted by a county grand jury on six felonies related to the death of Benjamin Saffer and injuries suffered by Suzanne Walsh around 5 a.m. Aug. 14 on State Route 80 west of the Mule Pass tunnel. He is currently out of custody on a $25,000 surety bond while awaiting trial, something Walsh did not object to.
A January trial date in the Cochise County Superior Court had to be vacated in November when the original prosecutor was elected as a judge. Judge Laura Cardinal now has the case, and is expected to announce next month that Brown’s jury trial will occur before the end of 2021.
According to court records, Brown was reportedly running late for his job with a border wall construction contractor when he made an illegal lane change and attempted to get around another southbound vehicle. The Ford F250 he was driving hit head-on with the Toyota Prius which Saffer, 37, and Walsh were in.
The Prius flipped or rolled over more than once. When the vehicle came to rest, Walsh, who is a medical professional, extracted herself and her boyfriend from the vehicle, then began to administer CPR to Saffer, who she believed had a broken neck.
Several minutes later, Saffer passed away at the scene.
Brown spent three months in the Cochise County jail before being able to afford to post bail. He is required to submit to fulltime GPS monitoring, is prohibited from traveling out of the U.S., and cannot have contact with Walsh or Staffer’s family.
Cardinal has advised Brown that a failure to appear at any future court proceeding will result in revocation of bail and could bring additional criminal charges. Brown could also stand trial in absentia, according to the judge.