On Wednesday, the court sentenced a resident of Indiana, which last year hit and killed two brothers and their sister, having taken the school bus. The mother of the dead children, grief-stricken, rushed to the accused in court.
Alyssa Shepard. Photo: Indiana State Police
25-year-old Alyssa Shepard was sentenced to four years in prison, three years of house arrest and three years probation after he killed 6-year-old twins Xavier and Mason Ingle and their older sister, 9-year-old Alivia Stahl. The tragedy occurred on 31 October 2018, when the children crossed the two-lane highway to catch the school bus. Then the shepherd in the SUV and crashed into them.
pic.twitter.com/rAQ9G8Fqbj
— Brittany Ingle (@BrittanyIngle3) 10 Dec 2019
It had previously said in court that he remembered seeing flashing lights and a big vehicle, but didn’t know it was a bus, and never saw a red stop sign on the side of the bus. The same thing she was saying at the time of arrest. According to her, she didn’t see children until they were directly in front of her.
Shepard knocked another boy in the incident. 11-year-old Maverick Lowe survived, but since the accident he has undergone more than 20 operations.
According to the Fulton County district attorney Michael Mars, a bus stop is located there for 50 years, and during that time there has never knocked. Mars also mentioned the testimony of the driver who was driving behind Shepard. He said he saw a school bus with the included flashing lights and «elongated» stop-sign.
During sentencing the mother of the dead children, Brittany Ingle, rushed to the defendant. Ingle was taken from the courthouse in handcuffs.
The family of the victims said they were disappointed by the verdict, adding that the shepherd was to receive the maximum punishment — 21,5 years in prison.
Shepard, who has two children of her own, apologized in court and said her «heart breaks».
