BATON ROUGE - Months after Taquencya Harris allegedly hit and killed 22-year-old LaDerica Stewart and injured three others, she is now facing a manslaughter charge.

Harris allegedly struck a group of four people, including Stewart, crossing Plank Road early on the morning of March 30. Baton Rouge police said Harris allegedly brought her car to a shop days later for repairs to the front end of the vehicle, saying she had struck a deer. 

In an indictment hearing Thursday morning, Harris was hit with one charge of manslaughter, two counts of hit and run with serious injury and obstruction of justice. 

District Attorney Hillar Moore said the evidence presented to the grand jury was key in pushing for the upgraded charges.

“I mean, there was a death that was involved, there was some speed as a factor,” Moore said. “They felt that based on the evidence they found that the charges should be at least considered for second-degree murder, or manslaughter, or negligent homicide.”

With the addition of a manslaughter charge, Moore said this could affect a possible sentence if Harris is convicted. A hit and run charge involving a death is punishable by up to ten years in prison. Manslaughter carries a 40-year maximum.

“Surely it's a much more serious offense than the grand jury returned then for what she was arrested for,” Moore said.

Harris is due back in court Sept. 25.