Indiana woman sentenced to 4 years in prison for school bus stop crash that killed 3 children in 2018
ROCHESTER, Ind. — Alyssa Shepherd, the Indiana woman found guilty in the October 2018 bus stop crash that killed three children and seriously injured a fourth, was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday.
Shepherd, 25, who faced up to 21 1/2 years in prison, was also ordered to serve three years on house arrest, with three years suspended with probation. Her driver's license was suspended for 10 years.
Shepherd struck and killed 9-year-old Alivia Stahl, and the girl's 6-year-old twin half brothers, Xzavier and Mason Ingle. Shepherd did not stop for a waiting school bus on Indiana 25, north of Rochester in the morning hours of Oct. 30, 2018. The bus driver had the vehicle’s stop arm and flashing lights activated as the children were crossing the road.
A boy unrelated to the three siblings, 11-year-old Maverik Lowe, was also hit by Shepherd but survived with serious injuries.
After Fulton County Superior Court Judge Greg Heller handed down Shepherd's sentence, the mother of the children killed in the crash, Brittany Ingle, lunged at Shepherd in the courtroom and had to be restrained. Ingle was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery.
Shepherd was convicted in October of three counts of reckless homicide, one count of passing a school bus causing injury and one count of criminal recklessness resulting in serious bodily injury. She could have been sentenced up to 21 years in prison.
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“We all feel as a family that killing three children should have been a more stringent penalty, but we’re glad that she is going to get some time served,” said Michael Schwab, the grandfather of the three children who were killed. “Children remain our greatest gift and if you’re not going to hold people accountable when they get hurt, then we may as well just get rid of laws.”
Fulton County Prosecutor Michael Marrs said the state asked for a 14-year sentence with 10 years of jail time.
“We were hoping for more time,” Marrs said. “Obviously the family wanted more time, but he’s the judge.”
Marrs also said that Shepherd’s age, her lack of a prior criminal history and the fact that she’s a mother likely contributed to the lighter sentence.
“There’s got to be accountability that if people drive like that, they’re going to go to jail or prison,” Marrs said. “To some extent that’s been done in this case.”
'She stole their lives':Woman convicted of passing school bus, killing 3 kids in crash
Shepherd’s defense attorney, Michael Tuszynski, declined comment.
Marrs confirmed that Ingle made physical contact with Shepherd in the courtroom, striking her “either with her hand or elbow in the face or head area.”
During the trial, Ingle said, “My kids are and were everything to me. … Instead of choosing Christmas gifts, I’m choosing things for their grave blanket," Ink Free News reported.
Directing her comments toward Shepherd, Ingle later said:
“Everyone here has been talking about Christianity and praying, but you didn’t pray for my kids right there at the scene. It sounds like you’re a great mom, and that’s great. You get to see your kids. You still get to talk to them. My life? My life is (expletive) ruined. I forever have to go to a (expletive) gravestone. I don’t hate Alyssa Shepherd. I hate what she did. She took so much from me. And you know if the roles were reversed, you would want time served for that.”
Shane Ingle, Mason and Xzavier’s father, also spoke toward Shepherd during the hearing.
“My children made me a better person,” he said, “and you took that away.”
Shepherd later addressed the court.
“My heart breaks for the lives that were lost,” she said through tears. “Every day, my heart breaks for the families. I am sorry. No apology can take that pain away. I’m just anxious, fearful and doing all I can to hold myself together.”
Contributing: The Associated Press