NOTE: This article will be updated as often as possible throughout the day.
(8:00 PM) — The speed of the truck that Alyssa Shepherd was driving during the fatal incident was presented along with other testimonies Thursday afternoon in court.
Lieutenant Terry Gose from the Indiana State Police testified during the trial today with the data from the truck, showing the speed at 2.8 seconds from impact he said it was traveling 58.4 miles per hour. At 0.8 seconds it was 55.9 mph, and during impact her speed dropped to 41 miles per hour.
Another testimony was from Fulton County Sheriff Sergeant Larry Jolly, who said that Shepherd was cooperative, but also seemed worried about getting to work.
From our news partners at WNDU, Indiana State Police Detective Michelle Jumper conducted a taped interview with Shepherd a couple hours after the crash. Jurors watched the video, and listened as Shepherd said she saw a vehicle that morning and didn’t know what it was, but she said she did see kids.
Shepherd said she had just dropped her husband at work. Her three-year-old daughter, two-year-old son, and 12-year-old brother were in the back seat of her Toyota Tacoma truck. Her brother had spent the night at her house, and she was taking him to her mother’s home to get dressed so she could take him to school.
Shepherd said her children were sleeping and her brother was talking about schoolwork. She said her phone was on the truck’s console.
Shepherd said it was dark that morning and told Detective Jumper, “I tried stopping but it was so too late.”
At that point Brittany and Shane Ingle, parents of the three children killed, left the courtroom.
In the video, Shepherd also she tried calling 911, but it didn’t go through. So she dialed a friend, a dispatcher, who called for help.
Shepherd also said she was crying on scene, and screaming “I hit kids! I hit kids!”
Detective Jumper told the defense that Shepherd was “very upset and scared” during the time they were together. The prosecution then asked her if Shepherd asked about the scene or the children. The detective said “no”.
Shepherd’s brother who was in the truck at the time, said during his testimony to jurors, that he saw an object, “that I thought was a semi or oversized load.”
The prosecuting attorney then read part of his initial statement to police where he’d said, “We saw a bus or oversized load. We tried to go around but saw five kids standing there.”
The trial will continue on Friday morning.
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(12:30 PM) – The morning session has hit a recess in Rochester.
Today’s trial began at 11:30 AM following some closed door discussions, this was after the trial was originally scheduled to start at 8:30 AM, then the first delayed start was expected to be at 10:00 AM.
One big change is the change in jurors, according to WROI in Rochester. An elderly woman juror was dropped from the jury and taking her place was the male alternate. There is no information regarding the drop.
WROI says a doctor in charge of the autopsies spoke on the witness stand this morning described the photos and the results of the autopsies, which all three children died from blunt force trauma. After a short time, Alyssa Shepherd was said to quietly speak to her attorney, and her attorney then asked for a short recess, which was granted. Shepherd was said to have felt faint and needed assistance to leave the court room for about 10-15 minutes.
The trial is expected to resume at 1:30 PM.
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(9:00 AM) — A pre-trial issue between the judge and the attorneys in the case has caused a delay. Chief Courthouse Officer Walker Conley made the announcement to those waiting in the courthouse, stating that the issue was something that could not be discussed in open court.
The trial is expected to resume at 10:00 AM.
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(7:15 AM) — Alyssa Shepherd arrived at the courthouse with her attorneys.
Her trial continues at 8:30. Nine witnesses spoke yesterday, including Brittney Ingle, the mother of twins Mason and Xzavier Ingle and Alivia Stahl. 12-year old Maverik Lowe, who was the fourth child that was hit and seriously injured, also testified.
More witness accounts are expected today.
