NEWS

Woman killed in motorcycle crash helped local kids

Christopher Behnan
Lansing State Journal

LANSING – Michelle Stickney loved motorcycles but didn't own her own.

A fan of the open road, Stickney often rode as a passenger on friends' motorcycles, said her neighbor, Dana Thurman.

Thurman said that was the likely situation Tuesday night, when Stickney died in a crash while riding as a passenger on a Lansing man's motorcycle on Vincent Court in Lansing.

Stickney, 41, a single mother of two, recently went back to school and was in the process of moving to Holt, friends said.

"She had a zest for life. That's why I think she was on the motorcycle to begin with," Thurman said.

Stickney hoped to use her social work degree to help children, friends said. While not in a clinical setting, Stickney always lent an open ear to kids, regardless of where they came from, in her south Lansing neighborhood, friends said.

The fatal crash happened around 7:15 p.m. Tuesday in front of Stickney's Vincent Court home. Several of the same kids who confided in her witnessed the crash, Thurman said.

"She never turned a kid away for food or if they just wanted to come in and talk. She was always there for the kids, no matter what," she said.

Stickney was raising her own 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter, Thurman said.

Sonja Tice, a lifelong friend of Stickney's, said Stickney faced many uphill battles in life but always came out on top.

Tice said Stickney will be remembered as a unique person who loved ceramic frogs and tennis shoes.

"She was a character," Tice said. "She was a like a daughter to me. She was a good kid all around."

The crash remains under investigation.

Police said the 27-year-old Lansing man driving the motorcycle, whose name was not released, fled the scene after the crash and was arrested nearby soon after.

Police said this morning the man was recovering from non-life-threatening injuries at a local hospital. He will be held in the Lansing jail once released from the hospital, said Lansing police Public Information Officer Robert Merritt. He faces multiple charges in connection with the crash.

Investigators believe the motorcycle was traveling east on Vincent Court and that the man lost control on the dead-end street. It is unknown if drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash, police said.

Stickney was not wearing a helmet, according to preliminary investigation, Merritt said. He said it was uncertain if the man was wearing a helmet.

Anyone with information can call 483-4600.