No Charges for Kansas Driver Who Fell Asleep Before Truck Hit Soccer Field

A woman who drove a pickup truck onto a youth soccer field in Wichita, Kansas, killing two people, will not be charged with a crime, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett announced Thursday. He said the evidence shows she fell asleep in what she believed was a parked truck, and that the case is a matter for civil court.

The Oct. 17 crash at the Stryker Sports Complex killed 6-year-old Cole Adrian and 35-year-old Nicholas Schafer, both of McPherson, Kansas, according to NBC News and KCUR. Ten other people were hurt.

What investigators say happened

Officials said the 34-year-old driver, who has not been publicly identified, lives in Garden City, about 200 miles from Wichita. She was driving her husband's Chevrolet Silverado because her own vehicle had a tire air-pressure problem, according to Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan. NBC News and the New York Post reported she got up around 6 a.m.; KCUR reported she left Garden City around 7 a.m. Her children had soccer games at the complex.

KCUR reported that parking-lot video showed the truck circling the crowded lot before pulling into one of the few open stalls, which happened to face a clear path onto the fields. Bennett called that pure chance. The driver told her children she was going to nap and reclined her seat. Her 14-year-old daughter put a sunshade over the windshield. Police said surveillance video showed the truck sitting still for 46 minutes before it accelerated onto the field around 3:30 p.m., according to NBC News and KCUR.

How the truck ended up on the field

Investigators could not say with certainty whether the truck was in park. Bennett said it was possible she moved in her sleep and shifted it from park into drive, but unlikely, because the foot must be on the brake to change gears. The other explanation is that she never put it in park and later pressed the accelerator, perhaps by shifting her leg.

Police borrowed a truck of the same make, model and mileage from a dealership and tested it. KCUR reported the truck could rest against the 7-inch curb in drive, and light pressure on the gas pedal pushed it over. KCUR also reported that this model locks its doors automatically when in drive, which fit what two of her children told police about having to unlock the doors to get out.

Other possible causes were ruled out, according to the officials. Her blood, which she gave voluntarily, tested negative for any intoxicating substances, and her medical records showed no outstanding issue. A General Motors engineer and technician found no mechanical problems, and Sullivan said the vehicle was not under any recalls. Bennett said witnesses described her as sleepy, and later as sobbing and distraught. Interviews with referees, coaches and others turned up no conflicts involving her.

Why prosecutors decided against charges

Bennett said state law requires conscious disregard of a risk for charges such as murder, child endangerment or involuntary manslaughter. He concluded that one act of inattentiveness, leaving the truck in drive, did not meet that standard. He said that, in his words, “it is not a crime.” He also said he found affirmative evidence that the crash was not intentional.

Asked whether new evidence could change the outcome, he said he doubted it, citing more than 100 interviews, camera and phone footage, toxicology reports and reenactments.

What this means for the families and the community

Bennett said the matter will be handled under a negligence standard, which applies in civil cases. That means any legal action over the deaths and injuries would most likely come through civil claims rather than a criminal prosecution. Officials did not say whether any such claims have been filed.

Police and the district attorney's office told the victims' families and the injured of the findings before the news conference. Those hurt ranged in age from 5 to 68, and Bennett said none faces critical injuries at this time. Sullivan said some questions may never be answered with complete certainty, and called the crash a tragedy that has shaken the community.

Around Prague, based on reporting by NBC News, KCUR, New York Post

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