Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Monday, September 25, 2017
(HENRYVILLE) - A Henryville mother who drove her car and two children in front of a CSX train back in June was on drugs, according to the Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull.
Ericka Fouch was charged Friday morning with two felony counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, two felony counts of causing a death when operating a vehicle while under the influence of a controlled substance and driving with a suspended driver's license.
Prosecutor Jeremy Mull said in a news conference that he has evidence Foutch had taken drugs an hour before the accident and had both marijuana and meth in her blood when she drove into the path of the train without stopping.
Mull says if convicted of all counts, Fouch could be sentenced to up to 42 years in prison.
Adalynn Noel Fouch, 5, and her brother, Wyatt James Isaac Fouch, 4, were pronounced dead at the scene when the SUV Fouch was driving was hit by a train on State Road 160 and Railroad Street in Henryville on June 28th.
Fouch suffered serious injuries and required surgery following the crash.
The children were found with weak pulses and were partially trapped inside the 2005 Mitsubishi SUV. The children were later pronounced dead before they were able to be removed from the car.
Autopsies of the children listed the causes of death as multiple blunt force trauma injuries. Adalynn also sustained a skull fracture and Wyatt a broken neck.
Investigators examined video from the CSX train, which shows the SUV driven by Fouch did not stop before it hit the train. Video and audio show the train was blowing its horn, as it approached the flashing railroad intersection.
Mull said the investigation revealed that approximately one hour before the accident Fouch did use drugs.
"I know that she had meth and THC which is a result of using marijuana in her system and that as a result of that she has violated these Indiana statutes. These penalties carry a potential 42 years of incarceration. I want to be clear - if you drive after using drugs and cause a collision that kills people, I'm going to come after you. And it's not going to be to put you in treatment, or put you on probation or to put you in a program - it's going to be to put you in prison. There's just no excuse in using drugs and getting behind the wheel and causing this type of accident."
Fouch told officers that she did not see or hear the train approaching before the collision. When asked which direction she had been traveling, Fouch told officers "I don't know which way I was going." court records show.
During the investigation of the crash, it was determined that the car was hit on the passenger side by the train, after which point it became airborne, rotating 180 degrees to the right and hitting the metal switch house by the train tracks on the passenger side before rotating 90 degrees and hitting a telephone pole on the driver's side.
Video footage from the lead train car recorded that the crossing lights were flashing and the train's horn sounding. It was recorded at traveling 44 miles per hour through the intersection, which has a speed limit of 49 miles per hour. The train was put in emergency stop mode just after the collision, records show
There are no railroad crossing arms at the intersection where the train collision happened.
1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com
© Ad-Venture Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.