At about 11:05 a.m., the Boone County Communications Center received multiple distress calls from callers saying there was a major crash on Interstate 65 northbound, near the Zionsville/Whitestown exit.
Multiple first responders quickly arrived at the crash, which involved 8 motor vehicles and 1 semi-tractor trailer. Witnesses state a fire started after the collision, when a vehicle was pinned against the guardrail by the semi. A separate vehicle was pushed over the guardrail and flipped onto its driver’s side.
Two patients were trapped in that vehicle and ultimately extricated – one by local law enforcement, another by the Zionsville Fire Dept. Six other vehicles involved suffered serious damage and were blocking all lanes of travel northbound.
![Update: Crash kills 3, hospitalizes 14 1 CIZ 0114 COM Crash pic Small mug](https://youarecurrent.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CIZ-0114-COM-Crash-pic-Small-mug-200x200.jpg)
The driver of the semi, 34-year-old Matthew Lewis Small of Grandville, MI, said he was northbound on I-65 and looked down to set his coffee mug down. He then ran into slowing traffic. Police say it appears Small collided with all 8 vehicles as he plowed through the traffic back up.
Thirteen patients were transported to St. Vincent’s Hospital and one female, a child, was taken to Riley Hospital. All injuries on the 14 patients appear to be non-life threatening, according to a press release.
Two people, from the vehicle pinned against the guardrail, were pronounced dead at the scene. Later, responders discovered a third person, an infant, was also deceased inside of the same car.
The Boone County FACT Team was called to the scene to reconstruct and investigate for possible charges. I-65 northbound and I-865 westbound were closed about four hours during the investigation, according to the release.
After further investigation, Mr. Matthew Small was charged with three counts of reckless homicide, level 5 felonies, and booked into the Boone County Jail.
The deceased were later identified as: Mariah Tomey, 21, of Lebanon; Hadley Tomey, 1, of Lebanon; and Kaylee Kirk, 19, of Lebanon.
Boone County Sheriff Mike Nielsen said in a statement that Sunday was “a sad day for two Boone County families.
“Distracted driving or driver inattention is a major cause of many accidents on our public roadways. In this case we believe it was a contributing factor in this fatal crash. The Boone County Sheriff’s Office feels strongly that those that cause death on our public roadways, because of driver inattention, should be held accountable.”