An Indiana woman was high on methamphetamines and was doing her makeup when she caused an accident last November that killed a 6-year-old boy.
Khristal Grant 43, wasn’t charged until May 9 and wasn’t arrested until May 28, WXIN reported.
On November 9, an accident occurred in Shelby County. Six-year-old James Doniven Hodges was in a Ford Explorer, driven by his grandparents, when it was rear-ended by Grant’s Chevy Tahoe as they waited to turn left. Witnesses reported to police that the Tahoe was speeding and appeared to be “all over the roadway.”
The witnesses, who were in a vehicle passed by Grant just before the crash, observed the driver applying makeup in the vanity mirror. A witness described Grant passing them at such a speed that it seemed like their own vehicle was “standing still.”
These witnesses saw the collision, which resulted in the Ford SUV spinning into oncoming traffic, where another vehicle struck it. Grant’s vehicle also collided with an additional vehicle. Several drivers and passengers were taken to local hospitals, but the young boy with his grandparents was declared dead at the scene.
According to court documents, Grant admitted to using meth and smoking marijuana “with the past few days” but insisted she hadn’t used any drugs that day. She told officers she had been on her way to work and denied that she wasn’t paying attention to driving.
But data from her vehicle showed that she was traveling nearly 70 mph 2.5 seconds before the crash and didn’t touch her brake until a half second before the collision.
A drug test found methamphetamine greater thatn 50 ng/mL, court document say, and a forensic toxicologist said her driving “was consistent with impairment from methamphetamines.”
Grant faces up to 12 years in prison if she’s convicted on the current charges, operating a motor vehicle with a controlled substance and causing death while operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, according to WTHR. Her trial is set to begin on August 5.
