DELAWARE COUNTY, Ind. — A Delaware County grandmother has been charged with three counts of causing death while operating a motor vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance in her blood following a February 2023 crash that killed her pregnant daughter and two grandchildren.
According to court documents, on Feb. 19, 2023, Amy Carter, 55, was driving a PT Cruiser northbound on County Road 600 West with her pregnant daughter, 28-year-old Alexis Strader, and her two kids, 3-year-old Jonah and 1-year-old Laila, in the back seat when the car went off the road, hit a culvert and rolled into a field.
The vehicle then caught fire, trapping Strader and her two kids inside, killing them.
Court documents show that Carter told police she attempted to reach into the backseat to give her grandson a bottle when the car went off the roadway and into the field. Carter also told police that a passerby stopped and held the car door open so she could escape.
Carter was reportedly taken to Ball Memorial Hospital and consented to a blood draw. Her blood was taken to the Indiana Department of Toxicology for analysis, according to court documents.
According to the results of the blood draw, Carter did not have any alcohol in her system at the time of the crash, but the results did show "high levels" of lorazepam, an anti-anxiety medication and THC, the chief ingredient in marijuana.
Carter was charged April 17, 2024, with three counts of causing death while operating a motor vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance in her blood.
She had her initial court hearing Monday, April 22, in which she pleaded not guilty.
Her pre-trial conference is tentatively set for Sept. 12, with a jury trial scheduled to begin Oct. 14.