Charges delayed in traffic death of 5-year-old

<p>Sonoma County prosecutors said Thursday they needed additional time before determining whether to file manslaughter charges against a woman whose SUV rammed into a stopped Toyota Matrix, killing a 5-year-old boy inside the smaller car and critically injuring another passenger.</p><p>The suspect, Brandi Hanley, 32, appeared in court without an attorney.</p><p>Prosecutors on Thursday were expected to file one count of felony vehicular manslaughter, but Deputy District Attorney Craig Brooks said he was awaiting additional information from law enforcement authorities.</p><p>“It will be another 30 days before we receive the results from Department of Justice toxicology tests,” he said.</p><p>Hanley was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter after her Ford Explorer struck the rear of a stopped car that Addison Branson, 5, was in on April 28. Police said she was traveling at about 40 mph.</p><p>The impact sent the smaller car across the intersection and into a metal utility pole. A front passenger in the Matrix, Jennifer Welch, 55, was seriously injured. The driver and boy’s father, Albert Branson, 52, suffered minor injuries.</p><p>Hanley was driving on a suspended license, the result of an undisclosed medical condition, police said. She didn’t indicate at the time of the crash that the medical condition played a role in the collision. She told police she didn’t realize the light was red and other cars weren’t moving.</p><p>Hanley said in court Thursday that she is unemployed. Judge Elliot Daum tentatively appointed the Public Defender’s Office to represent her at the next hearing, set for July 8.</p><p>According to Sonoma County court records, Hanley was charged in a 1998 misdemeanor hit and run crash that caused property damage. After she attended traffic school, prosecutors dismissed the charge.</p>