Woman who fled to Thailand charged with fatal hit-and-run of MSU student

An Oakland County judge set bond at $1 million cash for a woman who fled to her native Thailand on Jan. 3 — two days after police said she killed a Michigan State University student as he walked on a road in Rochester Hills in the pre-dawn hours of Jan. 1.

Tubtim “Sue” Howson, 57, was charged with failure to stop at the scene of an accident causing death — a 5-year felony — in the crash that killed 22-year-old Benjamin Kable. Judge Lisa Asadoorian of 52-3 District Court said the global reach of numerous law-enforcement agencies, led by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office and the FBI, showed that "you can run but you can't hide." Asadoorian demanded that Howson surrender her passport, and driver's license and if she is able to post bond, not leave her home for any reason other than to appear in court.

Howson's attorney, Bloomfield Hills-based Jalal Dallo, told the court that federal agents already had stripped Howson of her driver's license and two passports. He argued that she posed no flight risk, having surrendered to authorities in Thailand. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said his department was thankful to the judge "for her attention to the fact that clearly, the defendant has been a flight risk to the extreme." The county's crash investigators believe that Howson was driving the 2015 BMW that a witness saw strike Kable, a Shelby Township resident, while he was either standing or walking on Rochester Road south of Whims Lane in Oakland Township. The crash happened at 5:49 a.m., according to a news release from Bouchard's office.

According to the release, Howson, who lived in Oakland Township not far from the crash, fled the scene. The release said that investigators "obtained a description of the vehicle and believed the driver was a female of Asian descent. A tip led Investigators to identify Howson as the driver. Howson, who is a dual citizen of both the United States and Thailand, left Michigan two days after the crash and flew to Bangkok."

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Howson, her lawyer told the court, "left the scene in a panic" and flew to Thailand not to evade responsibility but instead "for support, to "sit down with her husband," who was in Thailand for his job, "and decide what to do." She has been in the United States for 12 years, has worked for Whole Foods for 11 years, and has been married for more than 20 years, her lawyer said.

"The Thai authorities didn't feel she needed to be in custody. She returned (to the U.S.) on her own. The federal (extradition) case has been dropped," he said. Soon after Howson arrived in Thailand, her husband flew back to the U.S. and told law enforcers that she would turn herself in, her lawyer said.

"No way is she going to miss" any court hearings, Dallo said. But Asadoorian denied the defense attorney's requests that his client be allowed to return to her job and visit a doctor if necessary.

Kable, a senior in electrical engineering at MSU, was walking along Rochester Road after attending a New Year's Eve party and had been forced out of an Uber vehicle for an unknown reason shortly before the accident, according to previous reports. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His father, Michael Kable of Shelby Township, said after the hearing that his son's death was ruinous to the family. With his tearful wife standing nearby, Michael Kable said he'd been especially close to Benjamin, the couple's youngest child.

"We're just happy to see justice finally happening," Michael Kable said, adding: "The Oakland County Sheriff's Office was really instrumental in making this happen. And (U.S. Rep.) John James really reached out to us. ... It's very difficult to lose a child. It's an emotional roller coaster."

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Contact Bill Laytner: blaitner@freepress.com