Sister Charged With Murder of Twin by Driving off Maui Cliff

Police say evidence shows the driver never attempted to hit the brakes.

By
JULIA JACOBO
June 7, 2016, 5:27 PM ET
4 min read

— -- A 37-year-old Maui woman who authorities say drove her car off an oceanside cliff with her twin sister in the passenger seat is being charged with murder, according to court documents.

A state court in Hawaii charged Alexandria Duval with "intentionally or knowingly" causing the death of her sister, Anastasia Duval, on May 29, in a criminal complaint filed Monday.

Duval, who is also known as Alison Dadow, was driving a 2016 Ford Explorer when it went off the Hana Highway in Maui, plunging 200 feet to rocks below, ABC News affiliate KITV in Honolulu reported. Anastasia Duval was also known as Ann Dadow.

Alexandria Duval survived critical injuries, but her twin died from the accident, according to KITV. A witness recorded Alexandria Duval's dramatic rescue on a cellphone.

Authorities said Alexandria Duval declined to give officers any information after she was extricated from the SUV and identified herself only as Alex, the Associated Press reported.

Witnesses said they saw the twins arguing in the SUV before the driver seemed to suddenly accelerate and make a sharp left turn, according to KITV. The car then slammed into a rock wall and plunged to the rocks below.

Police said the SUV's airbag control module indicated that the driver did not step on the brakes before hitting the wall, KITV reported, appearing to support witness statements.

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Alexandria Duval is in custody, and judge ordered her to be held without bond because prosecutors are fearful that she is a flight risk, according to KITV. She had booked a flight to the mainland U.S. for last Wednesday and another for last Friday but was arrested before she could leave, the station reported.

"Alison did not try to harm herself or the person she most loved and was closest to in the world," said Duval's defense attorney Todd Eddins, the AP reported.

ABC News affiliate WPBF-TV in West Palm Beach, Florida, interviewed the twins in 2011 when they were running a successful yoga studio there, Twin Power Yoga.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. Duval plans to plead not guilty, according to Eddins.