Woman charged in crushing rival
By Gene Schabath / The Detroit News

SOUTHFIELD--Traci Lynette McCalvin went to see her ex-boyfriend early Valentine's Day, but the visit ended in an attack, not romance, that left a former high school prom queen dead, an Oakland County prosecutor said Sunday.

McCalvin, 27, of Detroit, was arraigned Sunday on an open murder charge for running down and crushing her ex-boyfriend's girlfriend outside the man's Southfield house. Bail was set at $150,000.

McCalvin showed up at Lidell Smith's house on Old Stream about 1 a.m. and became irate when she found Smith with Mar-Kecia Branch, Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor James Halushka said.

"She had a baby with (Smith) and was upset to find them together, and says: 'What are you doing here?' " Halushka said. "The victim had left the house and was standing next to the driveway. ... The suspect drove at her and hit her, and dragged her 20 yards.

"She actually crushed her to death."

Branch's body still was under the car when police arrived.
Pamela Horton, Branch's cousin who regarded her as a sister, said the family was "shocked and stunned."

"She was 18 years old, had just graduated from high school, from Redford," Horton said. "She lost her life for no good reason."

Branch, who was the prom queen in her senior year, was a freshman at Central Michigan University. She was home from college for the weekend.

Services for Branch are being handled by the Pye Funeral Home in Detroit.