GIBSON CO., Ind. - The woman who was behind the wheel in a fatal September DUI crash that claimed the lives of two young men has changed her plea in the Gibson County, Indiana, case.
Ashley N. Sanders, 25 of Patoka, will be sentenced in mid-January after changing her "not guilty" plea to guilty on Friday, December 28.
Sanders was operating a vehicle while allegedly intoxicated back in September of 2018 when she collided with a another vehicle on U.S. 41 near Princeton, Ind. The high-speed rear-end collision took the lives of Trevor Watt, 19 of Princeton and James Gasaway, 20, of Haubstadt. A subsequent investigation revealed that Sanders not only had a BAC of .27 percent, but also had marijuana and meth in her system.
Sanders was charged with a plethora of Indiana counts: Felony Causing Death When Operating a Motor Vehicle with an ACE of .15 or More; Causing Death When Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Schedule I or II Controlled Substance; Causing Death When Operating a Motor Vehicle with an ACE of .15 or More; Causing Death When Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Schedule I or II Controlled Substance; Driving Too Fast for Conditions; Driving Left of Center; Failure of Occupant to Use Safety Belt; Improper Use of Center Lane on Roadway with 3 or More Lanes/Driving in Center Lane; and Failure to Obey Signs and Markings While Driving a Vehicle.
Sanders had been free on bond since mid-October according to electronic records. She was working her way toward a jury trial with a public defender when, last Friday, she opted to file a motion to change her plea instead. This vacated the pending trial date of January 14 and set a hearing for January 4 to actually hear the motion on the change of plea, which will undoubtedly be accepted.
Of the host of charges she's facing, it remains unclear exactly what all Sanders will be pleading to. She does, however, face a prison term of up to two decades in the charges related to the two mens' deaths.
