MORGAN COUNTY, Ind. — The husband of former Morgan County Clerk Stephanie Elliott has been sentenced in connection with the crash that killed her in July 2022.
John Elliott was formally charged March 6, 2023, with reckless homicide using a vehicle (Level 5 felony) and causing death by operating a motor vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance in the person's blood (Level 4 felony).
On Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, John was sentenced to one year of home detention, followed by two years probation.
Stephanie, 52, of Martinsville, was serving as clerk for Morgan County and the Republican candidate for Morgan County auditor in the November 2022 general election. She had spent nearly a decade serving as the county's clerk, according to former Indiana Secretary of State Holli Sullivan.
On July 2, 2022, Stephanie and John, 56, were in a pickup truck on State Road 67 around 7:15 p.m. when, investigators said, their truck crossed into the northbound lane for unknown reasons and traveled down an embankment. The truck hit several trees before it landed on its driver's side.
The Morgan County Sheriff's Office said the crash happened about a half-mile south of the State Road 67 and State Road 39 south junction, where State Road 67 goes from a four-lane divided highway to a two-lane highway.
Witnesses told police that no one brake checked John, and nothing ran out in front of the pickup to explain it driving across the median and then veering into the woods.
John, who police said was driving the truck, was flown to a hospital in Indianapolis in critical condition.
Stephanie was pronounced dead at the scene by the Morgan County Coroner's Office. According to police, she was not wearing her seatbelt at the time of the crash.
Investigators allege in court documents that John admitted to police that he sometimes takes cocaine and marijuana or marijuana edibles. He admitted having drinks earlier in the day, but his blood test was below the legal limit. He allegedly said he took cocaine days before and split a marijuana gummy with Stephanie on the day of the crash.
The court documents claim investigators found John was driving 90 mph right before the crash and never applied the brakes. Police allege "John had a concoction of drugs and alcohol in his system at the time of the crash."
Police said testing did not find any drugs in Stephanie's system.
