Drag racing cause of deadly crash?

EASTON, Mich. (WOOD) - A 20-year-old Ionia man, charged with second-degree murder after a crash killed a 33-year-old Greenville woman, claims to have been drag racing just before the wreck.

Christopher Brandt is accused of colliding his vehicle with Cynthia Younker's motorcycle around 10 p.m. on March 21, 2012.

Younker was riding north on M-66 and Brandt was traveling east when police said he did not stop at the Dildine Road intersection north of Ionia, according to Michigan State Police.

First responders performed CPR on Younker, but she was later pronounced dead at the scene. A police officer took Brandt to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Authorities said Brandt could have been traveling as fast as 120 mph just before failing to stop at the intersection.

Prosecutors told 24 Hour News 8 Brandt admitted to police he was drag racing at excessive speeds just before the crash. Brandt said he tried to stop the car when he saw the stop sign, but claims the brakes on his 2008 Ford Fusion did not work.

Brandt had a suspended license at the time of the crash.

He is in the Ionia County Jail on a $50,000 bond, and a judge has set Aug. 22 for a probable cause hearing for Brandt.