A mother whose pickup truck drove onto a crowded Kansas soccer field, killing a 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man, will not face criminal charges after investigators concluded she likely pressed the accelerator while asleep.
The decision, announced November 12, followed weeks of interviews, video reviews and vehicle testing aimed at answering how a truck that had been stationary for nearly an hour suddenly crossed a curb and entered an active youth soccer game.
Cole Adrian, 6, and Nicholas Schafer, 35, both of McPherson, died in the October 17 crash at Wichita’s Stryker Sports Complex. Ten others, ranging in age from 5 to 68, were hospitalized with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Another woman received hospital care for a separate medical complication.
The unidentified 34-year-old driver had traveled more than 200 miles from Garden City with her three children that morning. She borrowed her husband’s Chevrolet pickup because her usual vehicle had tire problems, then spent the day taking the children to soccer games.
After lunch, the family returned to a crowded parking lot. She found an available space facing an unobstructed route toward the fields, reclined her seat and settled in for a nap. Her teenage daughter placed sunshades across the windshield while another child remained in the backseat.
Surveillance footage showed the truck sitting still for roughly 46 minutes before it moved onto the field. The mother told investigators she awoke to screams and the sensation of the truck moving. Witnesses described her emerging in tears, repeatedly apologizing and saying she had been asleep.
A crucial question was how the pickup could remain stationary if it had been left in drive. Investigators tested a similar truck in the same space and found that the seven-inch curb could hold it in place until pressure was applied to the accelerator. They believe the mother likely thought she had shifted into park and inadvertently pressed the gas while sleeping. krps.org
Blood tests found no impairing substances, and an examination uncovered no mechanical failure that explained the crash. But the decision also rested on a legal distinction: prosecutors said they could not prove the woman knew the truck was in drive or consciously disregarded the danger, as required for the criminal charges they considered.
“I cannot prove she consciously disregarded a tremendous risk to people on that field,” Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said.
Bennett said the case belongs in civil court, where negligence is judged under a different standard. Police Chief Joe Sullivan met with the victims’ families before the announcement, acknowledging that explaining the crash could not undo their losses.
