Trucker putting down coffee plows into 8 cars, killing baby and 2 others, IN cops say

A semi truck driver plowed into eight vehicles on an Indiana interstate over the weekend, killing a baby and two others, police say.

The trucker says a coffee mug distracted him from the road, according to a news release.

The semitrailer crashed into vehicles on Interstate 65 in Boone County, just northwest of Indianapolis, about 11 a.m. Sunday, police said.

The collision pinned a vehicle against a guardrail, erupting it into flames and killing all three people inside, police said. They were identified as 21-year-old Mariah Tomey, 1-year-old Hadley Tomey and 19-year-old Kayle Kirk. All three were Lebanon, Indiana, residents.

Another 14 people went to a hospital with injuries not considered to be life-threatening, police said.

The semitrailer driver told investigators that he was looking away to put down his coffee mug before he crashed into slowing traffic, police said.

“A sad day for two Boone County families. The loss of two young women and a one-year old child,” Sheriff Mike Neilsen wrote in a news release. “Distracted driving or driver inattention is a major cause of many accidents on our public roadways. In this case we believe it was a contributing factor in this fatal crash.”

Matthew Lewis Small, 34, of Grandville, Michigan, was charged with three felony offenses of reckless homicide.

The sheriff’s office shared a message from Small on Facebook on his behalf.

“My heart and prayers are with the families,” Small wrote. “I am in agony over this whole ordeal.”

This story was originally published January 6, 2020 at 12:08 PM with the headline "Trucker putting down coffee plows into 8 cars, killing baby and 2 others, IN cops say."