Flint water crisis deaths lead to manslaughter trial for Michigan's health chief

Michigan's top health official will go to trial for manslaughter charges in the wake of the Flint water crisis.

Arguments concluded in July over whether Nick Lyon, the state director of health and human services, would face a manslaughter trial in connection to the crisis, The Associated Press reports. Michigan's attorney general claimed Lyon didn't alert citizens to the outbreak soon enough, and on Monday a judge agreed to send Lyon to trial.

Two men died from Legionnaire's disease after the water supply in Flint, Michigan, was contaminated following the city's decision to switch water sources. Faulty old pipes contaminated the city's water, which has remained contaminated since 2014. After a 10-month preliminary hearing, Lyon was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of misconduct in office over the two deaths, per ABC affiliate 12 News. Lyon is the highest ranked of 15 officials criminally charged in relation to the water crisis, MLive says.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.