A Kansas mom told her kids she was tired and fell asleep in a parked truck, then woke to them screaming as it rolled onto a soccer field

The woman who was behind the wheel when a pickup truck rolled onto a youth soccer field at Wichita’s Stryker Sports Complex will not face criminal charges. Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett announced the decision at a press conference on Thursday, saying, “This is not a crime, and I cannot charge this driver with a crime,” as reported by KWCH.

The Oct. 17 crash killed 6-year-old Cole Adrian and 35-year-old Nicholas Schafer, both of McPherson. Ten other people, ranging in age from 5 to 68, were injured.

Investigators spent weeks examining whether the crash was intentional or caused by impaired driving. Toxicology results showed no evidence that the 34-year-old driver was under the influence of any substances. “I have zero evidence that this was in any way impacted by intoxication, driving under the influence,” Bennett said.

Investigators believe she was asleep when the truck began to move

Bennett said the woman told investigators she woke up at 6:00 AM that day and drove her husband’s Chevrolet truck about 200 miles from her home in Garden City. She said she chose the truck because her own car had problems with the tires and air conditioning, which she worried made it unsafe for the long trip. She arrived at the complex around 10:40 AM, left for a short time, and later returned to park near one of the fields.

She told her children, ages 14 and 11, that she was tired from the drive. “She parks. She tells her kids she’s tired, which would be consistent with having gotten up that morning and driven that far,” Bennett said. She then reclined her seat and fell asleep, and investigators believe she may have left the truck in drive and pressed the gas pedal while in a deep sleep.

Bennett said the woman recalled waking up to her children screaming as the truck began to move. “She’s disoriented, she’s trying to sit up from a completely relaxed position to sit forward. Reaches for the steering wheel, looks up, sees shades that were not there when she went to sleep, batting at them,” he said. Witnesses pulled her from the truck after it stopped, and she reportedly shouted, “Oh my God, Oh my God, what have I done?!”

Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan said experts examined the truck and found no mechanical problems that could have caused the crash. Investigators also found it unlikely that the driver knocked the gear shift into drive with her leg, since the truck requires the brake pedal to be pressed to shift gears. Dispatchers initially classified the scene as a mass casualty incident as emergency crews worked to help the victims.

Bennett said he found “affirmative evidence that there was not an intentional crime.” Kansas law requires an intentional, knowing, or reckless act for charges in a fatal crash case like this, and negligent homicide is not a chargeable offense in the state, he said.

Bennett said the case could still be pursued in civil court.