Woman who drove onto Wichita soccer field, killing 2, won't be charged - USA Today

A 34-year-old woman who drove onto a soccer field in Kansas and fatally struck two people will not be criminally charged, authorities said.

The incident took place the afternoon of Oct. 17 while the woman was in Wichita to attend one of her children’s soccer games, police said. The woman was in a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck with two of her three children, ages 11 and 14, at Stryker Sports Complex, when the truck barreled onto the field.

Cole Adrian, 6, and Nicholas Schafer, 35, died in the incident. Nearly a dozen others were hurt.

Evidence indicated that the driver was asleep before the incident and did not intentionally drive the truck onto the field, according to findings released Nov. 12 by the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office.

"It is my solemn responsibility to stand before the community and say, as bad as this was, it is not a crime," Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett told reporters during a Thursday news conference. "I cannot prove she consciously disregarded a tremendous risk that took people on that field. And finally, I cannot prove she did anything more than a single act of negligence which according to the Kansas Supreme Court is insufficient to charge vehicular manslaughter."

Dozens of witnesses, including the mother and her two children inside the vehicle, were interviewed during the nearly month-long investigation, which included vehicle forensics and surveillance footage, according to Bennett and Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan, who also spoke at the news conference.

"This investigation has been thorough, deliberate and guided by the facts at every step," Sullivan told reporters, adding that the information gathered in the case was "based on evidence, not opinion."

In his 28-page finding, Bennett wrote that nothing suggests the woman knew the truck was in drive or had been inadvertently shifted into drive when she put her foot on the gas while sleeping.

"In other words, she would have to have known the truck was in drive (or would be placed in drive) and further recognized that by falling asleep, she risked inadvertently pressing the gas pedal and killing and hurting people," Bennett wrote. "There is no evidence to support such conclusions."

The report goes on to say that toxicology results from blood tests found that the woman was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and that she did not have any medical conditions or experience a medical episode at the time of the incident.

"Not everybody may be at peace with this decision," Bennett told reporters. "If I could charge this I would ... this is simply a reflection of the fact that I am looking at the laws that are available to me in a case like this and this is where we are at."

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.