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Judge Rejects Guilty Plea

Last updated on Saturday, August 24, 2013

(JENNINGS CO.) - On Thursday, a Jennings County judge rejected a guilty plea to a drinking charge by a Seymour woman facing an unrelated reckless homicide charge in Jackson County.

Brianne E. Maynard, 18, had planned to plead guilty to illegal consumption of alcohol, a Class C misdemeanor, during a change of plea hearing Thursday morning, but Jennings Superior Court Judge Gary Lee Smith refused that agreement.

Deputy Prosecutor Donna Marsh declined to discuss Smith's decision but said the case is now back in the hands of Maynard and her attorney, Bradley A. Johnson of Seymour.

Johnson, who could not be reached for comment, could try to work out a new plea agreement with the prosecutor's office or the case could go to trial, Marsh said.

Maynard was arraigned in the beginning of August in Jackson Circuit Court on four charges for her role in the death of Crystal D. Engelking. The 35-year-old Freetown woman died following a head-on collision June 1.

Maynard, arrested Thursday, faces four Class C felony charges: reckless homicide, causing death when operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, causing death when operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of .08 or more, and causing death when operating a motor vehicle with a Schedule I and II controlled substance.

She is currently being held on a $10,005 cash bond.

The head-on collision happened in the 2000 block of State Road 258 in Jackson County near Cortland.

18-year-old Brianne E. Maynard, of Seymour, was traveling east her car while 35-year-old Engleking, was going west in her pickup truck when the two vehicles collided head-on.

Officers arrived at the scene around 8:30 a.m. The Hamilton Township Fire Department had to use the Jaws of Life to free both drivers.

A passenger in the truck, Nathan Engleking, was taken to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour for minor injuries. Maynard and Crystal Engleking suffered life threatening injuries and were airlifted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis from Schneck Medical Center.

According to Jackson County Deputy Darin Downs, Crystal D. Engleking was pronounced dead at Methodist Hospital.

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