Indiana Motorist Gets 4 Years in Prison for Fatal Crash
Alyssa Shepherd of Indiana is sentenced to four years in prison, three years of house arrest and three years of probation, and will have her driver’s license suspended for 10 years.
Alyssa Shepherd of Indiana was sentenced to four years in prison for killing three students and injuring another after passing a stopped school bus last October. Photo courtesy Indiana State Police
2 min to read
Alyssa Shepherd of Indiana was sentenced to four years in prison for killing three students and injuring another after passing a stopped school bus last October. Photo courtesy Indiana State Police
ROCHESTER, Ind. — The motorist who was involved in the fatal crash that killed three students and injured another in October 2018 has been sentenced to four years in prison, the Chicago Tribune reports.
As SBF previously reported, on Oct. 30, 2018, Alyssa Shepherd was driving a pickup truck along State Road 25 when she struck and killed 6-year-old twins Xzavier and Mason Ingle and their sister, 9-year-old Alivia Stahl, as they were crossing the street to board their bus. A fourth student, 11-year-old Maverik Lowe, was airlifted to a nearby hospital with multiple broken bones and internal injuries, according to police.
Ad Loading...
A jury convicted Shepherd, 25, on Oct. 18 of three counts of reckless homicide, a felony count of criminal recklessness, and a misdemeanor count for passing a school bus causing injury when the stop arm is extended. She faced a maximum of 21-and-a-half years in prison. On Wednesday, the judge sentenced Shepherd to four years in prison, three years of house arrest, three years of probation, and suspended her driver’s license for 10 years, according to the Chicago Tribune.
During the sentencing, the mother of the students killed in the crash, Brittany Ingle, apparently lunged toward Shepherd in the courtroom. She was restrained and charged with misdemeanor battery, the newspaper reports.
Shepherd reportedly told investigators during a probable cause hearing for the crash that she didn’t see the bus or the students until it was too late to stop. The bus apparently had its lights flashing and stop arm extended.
Since the crash, Indiana lawmakers have introduced several pieces of legislation related to school bus safety, including Gov. Eric Holcomb’s school bus safety law. The new law, which went into effect on July 1, cracks down on illegal passing, establishes requirements for bus safety practices, and allows reimbursement for stop-arm camera equipment.
Driverless cars may feel the future, but student transportation requires more than navigation. Here’s why it demands human judgment, empathy, and oversight.
Ongoing driver shortages nationwide are forcing tough transportation decisions. See how districts are using supplemental transportation to maintain coverage for high-needs students.
A Rockland County child was struck by their school bus late last week. Here's what we know so far about this and other fatalities and injuries in the area over the years.
As Maine becomes one of the first states to require anti-pinch door sensors on new school buses, manufacturers like Mayser offer a look at how the technology works and why it's a critical fail-safe.
What if your fleet technology actually worked together? Learn eight practical strategies to integrate multiple systems into one platform, unlocking clearer insights, stronger safety standards, and smoother daily operations.
A recent Verra Mobility survey reports that 82% of parents support safety cameras to penalize stop-arm violators and 70% favor automated enforcement in school zones.
After complications in multiple cities when self-driving taxis failed to stop for school buses, the NTSB joins NHTSA in a probe to determine what's behind the tech and related safety concerns.
